Figuring it out and then starting over AGAIN

AHHHHHH I am going to say it, actually say it out loud and then hope to hell it is true.  I am pretty almost, certainly positive that training is HARDER than the actual marathon.  Just when you think

you have it figured out, things are going well, you totally have this. Life happens.  Life is always happening.  I am a mom to three, things never ever ever EVER go as planned. And when they do I wait, I wait for something to come up that I hadn't noticed or I had forgotten about.  I am a mom, a mom to three and a runner, there is ALWAYS a wrench.  If someone could see the way my brain worked they would see that all day long every day and actually even most of the night as well my brain is recalculating, re planing, making back up plans and changing this and squeezing in that.  I just never know what I am going to be dealing with at any particular moment.  Headed out the door, everyone is happy, dressed, fed and yet the dog will vomit on the carpet.  Or running on time and someone will have to poop as soon as the last car seat buckle is clipped causing three kids to be unloaded and rushed back into the house to start the leaving process all over again.

This is what happened to my training, LIFE.

Week 12 Marathon Training:

The Miles:

Wednesday ~ 7.06 miles
Thursday ~ 4.03 miles
Saturday ~ 10 miles

The Weather:

Spring is slowly fighting off the winter chill.  It isn't that warm yet but the layers are not as thick and the face masks have come off.  I still ran in snow on Saturday as we joked that it was a long run day therefore, it would snow.  And it did.  Just spitting snow but snow none the less came from the sky.

Routes:

Absolutely nothing new.  In fact, I have gotten really into the same loop that I will just do multiple times.  It has some good hills and is mostly traffic free.

Lessons Learned:

This week was my come back week.  The kids were really sick and I fell victim at the beginning of the week but nothing too drastic.  I had a hard time balancing it all and therefore the house fell victim.  And by that I mean it was a complete and utter disaster.  Laundry, although clean, was piled high on every surface.  We pushed everything aside in the family room and set up the bounce house.  The kids had been going crazy for outdoor play but with the temps and the ground still covered in snow it was a great option to bounce the crazies out. Dishes are slow to be done.  Often resulting in me doing breakfast dishes at lunch and lunch dishes at dinner.  It was honestly, a disaster.  Which means of course that it will be seen.  I was so fortunate to have a running buddy for Saturday's snowy

long run that I got up, fueled up and hit the road to meet up with her.  Our loops however lead back to my house for some water and a bathroom break.  Here is the lesson I learned: Your house is a disaster, a war zone, and yet as a runner you open the door for another runner to come in without even blinking.  My husband later showed me video of what the house looked like when she came in to use the bathroom.  He was embarrassed and couldn't figure out why I wasn't.  I simply said "she's a runner, she gets it".  Had it been anyone else and I probably would have loaded the van and went into hiding.  Joined the protective witness program.  But when I apologized she said "you have three really young kids, you amaze me by even being out here training."  It hit me right then and there runners accept other runners in all their disaster filled glory.

Which leads me into,

Marathon Training week 13

The Miles:

Monday ~ 6.57
Tuesday ~ 4.57

The Weather:

Pretty darn perfectly gorgeously the beginning of spring.  I even ran in shorts one evening and the sunsets and birds and melting snow was just wonderful.

Routes:

The same old same old.  However, I have recently roped another friend into running and the route takes me right by her house so I have been picking her up and running with her a bit before dropping her off and continuing on.  It makes for more interesting runs and I absolutely love company.  I am much more a group runner than a solo one.

Lessons Learned:  

Life happens.  After feeling confident in my new plan, missing one of last weeks runs due to sickness and feeling OK with it all knowing I was going to rock this week and take on 16 miles again, hopefully better than I had the last time, I wasn't prepared to be knocked off my feet.  Literally.  My back went out while cooking lunch on Wednesday.  I was literally brought to my knees.  I could not move, walk, laugh, lay, stand.  I was in pain.  Terrible pain.  To be honest it is the beginning of training week 14 and I am still unable to walk straight and have yet to run.  I should be panicking, stressing, worrying about not being trained enough.  Yet I realized, something.  A few weeks ago I
read a blog where she had said it is better to be under trained and to tackle a challenge than to be over trained and injured.  That has clicked with me.  I know I will be back.  In fact, as soon as I feel like I can handle running my chiropractor told me to go for it.  I know that I am going to put my best into this training.  It is hard, it has been hard.  The winter training, the learning curves, the discovering of me and how far I can go.  It has all been hard.  It has been hard but I have been training.  I may not be text book trained.  But I have heart, I have dedication and I know what it feels like to push through. Just like I now know what it feels like to stop and rest.  I know that I can do this.  I can finish up these last 4 weeks.  I know I can go to that start line with the training I end up with and rock what I can.  I also know that I can and will pull out if I have too.  Although, right now my fight isn't up yet.  I still have some time, although not much ;)