The true meaning of the phrase "it's not a sprint, it's a marathon" is becoming increasingly clear to me. I think most people who use that phrase have no idea what they're saying. I certainly didn't until sometime last week. The marathon is not just the 26.2 miles you run on race day. It's the 20-40 miles you run each week leading up to it. It's the schedule juggling you engage in to (try to) fit in your runs with everything else going on. It's the managing of your food and the Feeding of the Legs (and the foam rolling, and the stretching, and...). It's the conviction that you cannot go another step while simultaneously continuing to move forward. It's spending 4 hours with nothing to entertain you but your own thoughts and realizing that gosh, sometimes you can be pretty dull.
Most situations people describe as "marathons" with that phrase do not even come close.
Week 15 Plan
Total: 40 miles
Sunday: 5 miles
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: HIIT
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday: 5 miles
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 20 miles
Week 15 Results
Total: 34.75 miles
Sunday: 5.29 miles
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 9.75 miles
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 19.71 miles
Sidebar: Encounters with Birds
In which I will summarize my encounters with birds while running or walking:
Chased by hissing Canadian Goose
Pooped on by a bird in a tree
Dive bombed by a magpie defending its nest
Dive bombed and pecked by a red-winged black bird (up until this point, my favorite type of bird)
Followed by a swarm of no less than 20 ducks which thought I had food for them
Encountered gangs of turkeys trespassing on neighbors' yards
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