Shall We Taper?

Another week in training, and more mileage in the books. Grandma's Marathon is now two weeks out and I am officially (joyously) in taper!


Here's what went down as I approached the commencing of taper...

Monday involved my typical five miles (technically, the mileage came in at 5.5...but who's counting?), though not in the typical #5at5 format. Since it was Memorial Day, some of us locals decided to meet up at the lake (which is right alongside our cemetery) and do a group run. I wanted to get in a couple extra miles, so I ran the (almost) two miles from my driveway and met everyone there, including the hubby.

Memorial Day

We had awesome temps, sunshine, and a beautiful (albeit somber) setting. After a lap around the lake, we turned onto the path that took us into the cemetery. There were American flags on numerous grave sites, as well as along most of the car path. It's a very scenic and hilly route. It was a physically challenging endeavor, and also quite emotionally challenging as well. It was also very spiritually cleansing. Another #nevermissaMonday complete.

It's always fun running with friends

Not much happening on Tuesday as far as training, though I did post a pic on Instagram, inviting everyone to join me (virtually) for my #5at5 the next morning. I did have some decent response even though I didn't think of posting the invite until around 9:00p.m. Stay tuned, I may just have to extend another virtual #5at5 invite in hopes of getting a few more early morning runners to rally with me!

As mentioned, the #5at5 happened on Wednesday this week (instead of the usual Thursday). Following Monday's hilly run through the cemetery, my hammies were pretty angry, and the DOMS were having a celebration at my expense. Although the hammies were ornery for most of the five miles, they actually felt much better by the time I finished. I thought it would be in my best interest to do the five miles a day early (Wednesday instead of Thursday), thus giving my legs almost three entire days of rest before my half marathon on Saturday (which also had five bonus miles on tap after the finish line, which would have netted me 18 total miles for the morning).

It's always a gamble in a situation like this. Running those five miles on already compromised legs (with extra rest and recovery afterwards), or take an extra day of rest before doing the five miles (but having less time to rest up for the big run on Saturday). It turns out, my decision to run on Wednesday was spot-on, and the legs felt much better afterwards and really enjoyed the extra rest  leading up to the weekend. Whew! I love it when my gut instinct makes the right decision!

Another five early morning miles

Thursday, being the first day of June, I started my new monthly challenge.

New month, new goals

My main focus doing these yoga moves is to take things easy (with the marathon happening in a couple weeks), but to also work a bit on leg strength and balance. My initial goal was to do each of the yoga poses for 30 seconds (on each side). Already, though, on that first day, I realized that these seemed  kind of light...so I've been holding the poses for 60 seconds instead, and doing them twice a day.

Forward Fold for the win

Not much for Friday, since I was trying to rest the legs, but I did my June Challenge poses.

Also, I posted my #Fridayfashion pic.  I can't remember when I started posting my Friday outfits (sometime last fall?), but it's been a fun challenge for me to come up with something different each week. I have thought of doing a collage of past pics, mainly to show that you can  mix & match what you already have to create a lot of outfits without needing to constantly be buying new stuff. #staytuned Look for me on Instagram ( @runningonthefly), and post YOUR Friday outfit, tag me, and play along!

I love the kiwi and turquoise color combo!

My favorite event every year, Dam to Dam, was on Saturday. I have mentioned this race numerous times; it's now a half marathon (it had been a 20K up until 2014). It was my first-ever big race...I ran it in 2008 and was instantly hooked. I have gone back each year since, and this was my 10th anniversary of running it. I had been stalking the weather all week...and it wasn't looking good. Thunder storms were in the forecast for Saturday morning (Wednesday's forecast), then it changed to scattered storms with a partly cloudy sky (Thursday), and by Friday all the storms were gone and full sun was awaiting us.

Wednesday's, Thursday's, and Friday's forecasts for Saturday

The day was beautiful, albeit quite warm and very humid. The race director notified us (via email and various social media channels) about the severity of the weather conditions.  We were cautioned to run slower than usual and to be diligent about hydration. Don't forget, I also had the grandiose plan to run five extra miles after the finish line. I'll save the nitty gritty details for the race recap, but will tell you that I felt great until mile 11. I don't think it was the proverbial wall, per se, but I knew my finish time was not going to reflect my actual ability because I had been stopping at every water station and pausing for a few pics along the route. Also, I kind of just gave up caring about my finish time and took a few walk breaks. Mile 12 came, and I took a few more. I was able to rally some mojo to finish the last mile pretty strong, but there were no finish line endorphins to bask in. It took me awhile to find Barb and Chuck (the hubby was somewhere behind me on the course), but I knew our five bonus miles were not a great option at that point. I could have sucked it up and done them, but it would have been pretty ugly...and with the marathon 14 days away, I did not want to take that chance. And, upon finding Barb and Chuck (and the hubby shortly thereafter), I felt a wave of dizziness wash over me. I didn't feel faint, but I knew I needed to sit down somewhere in the limited shade.

With the hubby, Chuck, and Barb before the race

I would guess most of the runners on Saturday had less-than-desired finish times because the heat was so brutal. I personally LOVE the heat, and it was a challenge for me in the final miles. Although I would have liked to have run the entire race, I don't need those kind of bragging rights to validate myself as a runner. I knew I needed to focus on the big picture (ahem, that marathon in two weeks LOL), and I'm at peace with everything. 

My 10th Dam medal

In case you missed them, here are last weeks posts:

Back in the SPRING of things

My May Assessment

Summer Running:Feeling Hot Hot Hot

So, that's the latest and greatest in my little corner of the universe. My mileage (Monday - Saturday) came in around 24 miles. Ugh. I was really hoping to be a bit higher, but that long run on Saturday (which ended at 13.33) kind of messed up that wish. My Sunday miles are TBD ...I'm headed to Chicago when this post goes live, so I'll include those miles in next weekend's wrap-up post. 

How was your week? Is your training on track, or are you recovering from a recent race? Has the summer weather arrived?  Have you ever had your weather forecast change drastically within a few day's time? WOuld YOU join me for a virtual #5at5?

I'm linking up with Mary Beth (on behalf of Holly and Tricia) for the Weekly Wrap. Please join us!