four weeks to prairie fire. a turkey or a crane.

Despite the on-going hip/IT band/quad/hamstring my left leg is enduring, I am still running as much as possible. With my goal 'm' time changed I am not worried or stressing out about the marathon as I have in the past. We are doing our long runs at a pace very near to where we want to run the marathon, so that in and of itself is comforting. And no, it's not at a pace that I'm pushing, it's a very comfortable, easy pace for a long run. We talk the entire time, so we are running easily enough for us to chatter non-stop.

While the long runs are going quite well, it's my weekday runs that are hurting me. Having two treatments a week in PT means that I'm swollen and bruised during the week, and good to go by the weekend. So I'm managing the best I can, squeezing in 4-6 milers as comfortably as possible Monday - Friday.  I wish I could do more than that, but the pain isn't worth it.

That said, we ran 19 miles on Saturday, and I'm pretty stinking satisfied with it! It's one of the best long runs I've ever had. I love that I am training with Shellers and Katie (who is only doing the half at PF) and that we can carry each other when needed. It seems when one of us is having a bad run there is another one of us there to pick the other up to keep her going. It's what running buddies are for! Our last long run will be this Saturday topping out at 20 miles, then our taper includes a half marathon, and a 5k (+ some miles) the week before our big 'm'.

In other news, we have been mixing up our long run routes the past few months, none of us enjoy running the same route over and over. So we ran quite the path on Saturday that led us through a good chunk of the city and then landed us in a big nature preserve/park where we got to run on quiet shaded paths through prairie grasses and all manner of nature. In fact we spotted some Turkeys (or Cranes.... that issue is still up for debate) during our run.

Maybe you can tell which they are? We are sticking to Turkeys, SOMEONE else thinks they were Cranes. But he is a boy. And wasn't there. So clearly we are right. He is wrong. Or maybe you, the interwebs, should decipher. What do you think, they are the little grey things toward the top of the picture in the green scrub.

*turkeys or cranes?*

Week 12 Training
Monday - 3 miles
Tuesday - 4 miles
Wednesday - Yoga
Thursday - 5 miles
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 19 miles
Sunday - Rest

Total = 31