12 more months

Good to see you keep plugging away Julie. Just have fun with it and keep figuring out what you can consume while you're out there.

Thanks Mark! I did follow this plan 4 yrs ago for my only other 50K however I think one of my friends convinced me that 20 is about the same as the 22-26 miles the plan calls for so I'm pretty sure I didn't go that far. I have my papers somewhere in a closet if I can find them to see just what I did but I do think it's a good plan. 

Thanks Alex! It's been fun although of course getting hotter and more humid out.

Yesterday was my 22 miler, the last .5 was terribly slow with headache and needing a potty stop so that was mostly walking but otherwise it went pretty well. I only took one s-cap because my 2nd one fell on the street and I didn't buy the 5 second rule. 8 miles this morning, started out rainy but cleared off before the last couple. My knees didn't bother me at all during my long run so I'm glad about that. I do think the alternating hard and easy weeks is working for me.

I have 4 lbs left to lose but making progress then I'll see how much more I can lose but the 4 would put me at pre-preg so that is at least a good goal.

My daughter turns 5 next Sunday and my little boys will be 1 on the 26th.

I think marathon training is enough to get you through a 50K, but more long run miles will make it easier and allow you to finish faster.

Jim Lentz wrote:I think marathon training is enough to get you through a 50K, but more long run miles will make it easier and allow you to finish faster.

+1

Also, glad to hear that your knees are not giving you any fits on your long runs.

Nice work, Julie.  Can't believe the little guys are almost a year old - wow how time does fly!

Thanks Jim, Nick and Michele!

Well, today is their birthday!  As for running I had 22 Thurs 10 Fri and 4 today. My 22 milers both ended really slow, lots of walking the last few miles. It's just plain hard and then I also had some GI issues but I finished, I figured run walk or crawl, right?

Here are some pics from today.

Awesome!

Good work on making it through your long runs, even if it was a struggle to finish!

PS - You have some handsome little lads

Thanks for the birthday pictures and congrats on the run!

Thanks all! 

My 24 miler is scheduled for this Sat followed by 10. I am pretty intimidated. I keep thinking that's just 2 miles less than a marathon and it feels sort of crazy to even run that far. I want to follow the training program but I'm also worried about hurting my knees. They have been OK, sore now and then but I switched out shoes last week and that helped. I'm not trying to be a wimp but I don't want to be foolish either and hurt my knees. So now I'm really not sure. I have a friend who's running 17 mi Sat so at least I'll have company for most of it. If my knee isn't hurting I'll do it all barring anything else crazy going wrong.

Last week was an easy week with 10/8 for long runs. I do love the every other week easy week in this plan!!

Very wise to be cautious.  Sometimes, I'll put in a new inner sole juuuust for a smidgen more cushion.

Off the record, though, I think we're scared to run a distance past 20 miles for all of the talk about getting hurt.  But if your base is good and the niggles haven't been stabbing, it should be okay.  But I would back down if it starts to hurt more than normal.

Regardless, maybe put some ice on your knees afterwards whether they hurt or not.  Good luck with it.   

No worries! Don't think of a 24-miler as being only 2 miles less than a marathon. Think of it as just running another 45 minutes or so. Pace yourself knowing the extra time you'll be out there, and you'll find it's easier than you think. You've got this.

Just remember if you're toting fluids and fuel to account for that extra time. Nothing quite like running dry/empty with a half hour to go.

Yuo can also think of the 24 miler being less than half of a 50. It is all perspective and if you keep the pace reasonable you should be fine.

Thanks for the advice! It went really well! I woke up at 3 a.m. to pouring rain. We got about .5" within an hour so I was worried I wouldn't be able to run at 515  but it cleared off and I ran 17 mi with a friend and then the rest by myself. I didn't even walk much at the end. I had some chafing and it sort of hurt worse to walk than run anyway. 

Fuel - waffle pre-run, raisins, dry oatmeal, sunflower seeds during run, 2 s-caps, 1 gatorade from my friend and lots of water. I didn't weigh myself this morning but I think I did pretty well with the fuel and s-caps today. The rain kept things overcast till my last few miles and that really helped. I'm excited to have my 24 miler, or the first one of them at least, done and just have to get 10 miles in tomorrow. It's supposed to rain again tonight.

Julie wrote:Thanks for the advice! It went really well! I woke up at 3 a.m. to pouring rain. We got about .5" within an hour so I was worried I wouldn't be able to run at 515  but it cleared off and I ran 17 mi with a friend and then the rest by myself. I didn't even walk much at the end. I had some chafing and it sort of hurt worse to walk than run anyway. 

Fuel - waffle pre-run, raisins, dry oatmeal, sunflower seeds during run, 2 s-caps, 1 gatorade from my friend and lots of water. I didn't weigh myself this morning but I think I did pretty well with the fuel and s-caps today. The rain kept things overcast till my last few miles and that really helped. I'm excited to have my 24 miler, or the first one of them at least, done and just have to get 10 miles in tomorrow. It's supposed to rain again tonight.

Good work with your first 24 miler! Hopefully the rain holds off for tomorrow's run. Don't push it too much tomorrow as your muscles will still be recovering from the 24 miles. Good luck!

Woohoo!!!!

Thanks Nick and Michele!

I wish I had run this morning, the t-storms didn't really happen so I was stuck running in the afternoon  82 degrees and humid at the start. Got my 10+ miles in with lots of walking breaks. So ready for a rest day tomorrow! 

I've enjoyed the 50K training to some extent but I'm really ready to be done with it, too. I think I'll run Lincoln Marathon in May and just marathon training seems much more manageable after doing this 50K training.

Gratz!  That ought to give you a bit of comfort or confidence at doing 34 miles in not so great weather.  Just don't get cocky.  

Great job!

Thank you!

Today was my first time not running as much as the training plan called for. My knees have both been sore off and on and I was pretty hesitant to run this morning let alone 24 miles. So I just did 15. I don't know if it was being wimpy or wise, really. I do tend to be more of a slave to the training plan even if I'm sick or have no sleep or anything else and I do believe come race day the best thing will be to be not injured. So I'll plan to run 10 tomorrow and just keep moving forward. I just switched shoes out about 3 weeks ago, too, so it must just be doing more than I'm used to. I have done 2- 22s and 1 - 24. Supposed to run 26 in 2 weeks then another 26 (Omaha Marathon) 2 weeks after that. The 50K is in 7 weeks, 3 weeks after Omaha Marathon.

As you get older, it will become more & more important to listen to your body & get to the start uninjured.

Sounds like a good decision...better to arrive at the starting line healthy than well trained and injured.  Take care of yourself.

Training plans are just guides. In the end you always need to listen to your body when you're out there. The body always needs to recover. Keep up the good work.

Wow, I've really neglected this blog and everyone else's here, too. I'm eager to catch up! I ran Omaha Marathon this morning as a training run for the 50K with my friend Jen who is running the 50K with me. We took it plenty slow and then the last half she wanted to walk a lot, she said it was mental but I really didn't care and figured I'd just stay with her and we'd get it done eventually. It did end up being my slowest marathon ever but really for a training run I thought it was just fine. My first marathon since having my babies less than 14 mos ago so I'm really pretty proud of myself for getting (mostly) back into shape after all the bed rest, wt gain, exhaustion, etc that goes along with twins. Anyway I'll have to write more later because my husband just came home bearing pizza!   Tomorrow should be about 10 miles and then taper time. I'm so ready to cut back my runs and have more time for other things. I'm toying with no spring marathon just because of the time commitment (and energy) right now and I just can't get excited about doing Lincoln yet one more time. Anyway, thanks for all the support! 20 days till the 50K.