Reflections on Week #14

I bought this to tack up in my house and keep me focused leading up to the big race.
Yes, car decals make me happy, and I will not apologize for that!

Just a quick update this week, I am busy trying to finish a project for a client while completing end-of-the-year tasks for the parent group at my younger boys' elementary school. It was a step-back week in my training, but I'm exhausted from everything that's going on right now. Only two more weeks until summer break, and I might be more excited than my kids!

I don't have a lot to report about this week, and no news is good news, right? I enjoyed my runs, and while I do feel a soreness in my knee sometimes, I have not had another flare up of my ITB syndrome. I very faithfully do my hip and glute exercises every day, and it seems to be helping. I bumped into my physical therapist on the trail during my Saturday run, and after asking about how my knee was feeling, he grinned and mentioned he had spoken with my sports medicine doctor. It would be interesting to have been a fly on the wall during that conversation!

On the pendulum of emotions that is marathon training, I am in a good place at the moment. I've been working on establishing a positive mindset thanks to some very helpful podcasts, and I hope to write more about that soon. I'm tired, but strong. Running a marathon still is terrifying to me in some ways, but I feel my confidence growing each week. It might very well be unfounded confidence, I still have 6 more weeks of training and then 26.2 miles to race! But I've gotten so much out of this experience already, and I'm very grateful for the journey.

Next weekend will be the Evergreen Half Marathon, and I am looking forward to the beautiful course. My dad will be running the 5 mile race along the same path, which will make it all the more fun. It's entirely downhill, so maybe I will earn a new PR, but I'm aiming more for enjoyment than pushing my pace. Crossing my fingers for a mild and dry day!

Mileage for week 14: 30 miles

Total mileage: 318.6 miles

Days until marathon: 40 days