Yep, 19 short, little days out till the Big one!  And no, I’m not referring to my Husband’s birthday – which happens to be exactly the same day!  I’m talking about Route 66 Half and Full!!  If you haven’t heard me ramble on and on about how awesome this particular event is, then you can catch last year’s recap here.

From the Expo where it is probably one of the quickest packet pickups we’ve ever had, to the expo (can you say huge, vibrant, exciting, full, lots of stuff going on everywhere?), to the Start Line – You can feel the electricity in the air all the way to the finish line and celebration!  If you can get this one on your bucket list you must!

This will be our last Marathon.  Our bodies are feeling it, and we know that if we want to keep running that we need to cut it back to Half Marathons.  We’re going to through in some long distance cycling as well (I’ll try have to embrace that) but for now, we acknowledge the toll it is taking on our bodies.  And to have the Route 66 be our last Marathon – will that will be amazing!

So Sunday’s long run started out very uneventful but full of hope – I woke up early (thanks time change) and caught the NYCM on the tube while drinking my coffee.  They are so inspirational – and I’m not talking about the elites (because I simply cannot fathom my body going that fast ever) but the stories of the runners who have overcome, endured and journeyed so far to be at the start line.  I admit, I cried when the “regular runners” crossed the start line.  So inspired,

I headed out to meet up with a running buddy (since Perfect Pacer is still unable to run) for her 10/my 15.  The plan was to head down to Riverparks and meet up.  Then I’d run back after we did her 10. It would give me the 15 I was looking for.  So I did just that.  I got to the meeting point.  And looked at my garmin and realized, I had left the house an hour early (thanks microwave for being the only non-selfadjusting clock in our home).  So I ran on home, grabbed a quick water, and drove back to the meeting spot.

S brought her friend Z.  Z quit smoking 3 weeks ago and was once an avid runner.  He has not run in several months.  So of course, running 10 made since to him.  S is a good pacer.  We ran pace together the whole way til mile 14, when I had to slow down.  We ended up averaging a 9:48 the whole way regardless.  And that includes my 5 previous.

My ankle survived although I felt it when I was running.  I haven’t had any other ankle pain tho.  I do however have some awful heel pain coming and as long as I don’t feel it while running, I’ll be fine on race day.

In other news,

one of our race guys and personal trainers at our gym (yes, Fleet Feet has it’s own gym) was hurt and is out of pocket for a while leaving them short a personal trainer. I was excited and delighted to fill in – so I’m getting to teach some “boot camp cross training style” classes throughout the week.  If your in Tulsa – you should totally check us out at 52 Fitness!  I’m super excited and didn’t realize how much I missed teaching or how much I missed my strength training!

Core and Strength training are essential to being a strong runner – it is what will help us get over the finish line.  So if you aren’t doing those two things in conjunction with your runs, you will eventually find yourself depleted.

And finally – I got to see the Route 66 Medals in person!  They are awesome.  I even picked them up – they are heavy!!