6 days to 50 miles

Miles run: 23 What's that saying: "The hay is in the barn"?

I just Googled that quote to make sure I had it right, and the meaning of it. It means there's nothing else to do; all of the hard work is done, so it's fitting to use it here as this was my final week of training.

What was planned (a MUCH welcomed taper week, let me tell you!)

Tuesday: 4

Thursday: 10

Friday: 5

Sunday: 4

What got done:

Tuesday:  As usual, I headed to the CVT after work to complete this run.  I laughed, thinking, “Wow, only 4 miles? What do I do with all this time I have back now?!”.

Thursday: I moved my long run to Thursday this week because I was working Saturday and had my friend’s baby shower on Sunday, so I didn’t want to rush it before then.  I started this run pretty late — around 11:30. I thought the weather was cooler; at least it felt nice in the shade, but it was surprisingly and sneakily warm.  I kept my pace conservative and slow, but this run didn’t feel as good as I had hoped for my last long run of the cycle.  I mentioned this on my Instagram story, but I had checked my email about 2 miles in during the run, almost close to 3.  I saw an email from the JustGiving page that I’ve been fundraising through, and it said someone just donated $500.  I clicked the link to take me to the page to see who generously gave this amount (because this amount got me to being only $45 away from my new goal of $7k).  The donation was anonymous, but again, if you are reading this anonymous donor, you have no clue how much that donation meant to me.  I burst into tears as I was trying to continue to run.  Full-blown hyperventilating tears.  Tears of gratitude, tears of “holy shit, I’m really doing this,” tears of “I wish my mom were here for this.”  I pulled myself together and continued running until I re-checked my email to see that the final $45 had come through — another anonymous donation. Cue more tears.   In addition to crying a lot and feeling very overemotional, I also started to overthink everything I felt in my body, another contributing factor to the run not being great.  I got nervous over any weird sensation or anything that didn’t feel right. Yes, it's to be expected, and it's called "Taper Crazies," but that doesn't make me feel any better, and I wish to live in a bubble until next Saturday night. I finished the run anti-climatically and waited for my husband to arrive at the dog park with our greyhounds. Luckily, the park was pretty empty, so we took them inside to let them run around and get some energy out.

Friday:  This was my last back-to-back run on tired legs!  I was exhausted and would’ve canceled this run if I hadn’t made plans with my former co-worker, turned friend, Riley.  We met at the CVT when I was done work to run together.  She had run 8.5 the day before and was doing 5 with me also to get practice running on tired legs.  The weather was cooler than I had anticipated, but I had no complaints! The miles flew by as we talked the whole time, which I appreciated because I totally would’ve gone home, napped, and pushed this run off to Saturday.  When I got home, I made tacos for dinner since it was National Taco Day.

Sunday: I completed these 4 miles in my neighborhood after we walked our dogs this morning. The weather was perfect—cool but warm (not too warm) in the sun. It felt like a perfect October morning, my favorite weather to run in. I finished and had to quickly get ready to make it to my friend Katie’s baby shower. I wish I had run more because the food at this shower was incredible, and I could've cleared a few plates had it been after a long run!

I can’t believe this training cycle is coming to an end.  I have two 4-mile runs next week, and they’re just shake-out runs, so my legs don’t go stir-crazy.  For how this training cycle started (let me remind you: week 1 - 0 miles run and in PT), I’m so proud of how it ended.  You might be surprised that this is the first training cycle I’ve successfully completed in all my years of running.  The only exception might be my first marathon cycle in 2017, when my body was young, injury-free, and had no clue what it was doing. I prioritized myself this training cycle — sleep (8-9 hours a night), stretching and core work, eating generally well, and drinking less. I continue to learn so much about myself with every race I train for, what works for me, and what doesn't. I am not anti-alcohol at all, but I’ve learned that my body does better training without a lot of it. I sleep better, and I'm able to get my runs done in the morning (which was really important for me on the weekends to do before work). Throughout this cycle, I still had fun with friends, but my running came first. I don't feel wrong about that either — this goal is the most important goal I've ever had, and I needed to know that I did everything in my power to get myself there and cross the finish line.

The next time you read a post from me, it'll be a race recap, talking about all things 50 miles. Send good vibes, carbs, and anything else you have to offer me. I leave you with this quote, which I'm carrying with me on Saturday: “I’ve come so far, I think I can run on just a little bit longer.”

Also, shamelessly - if you haven't donated yet and want to, here's the link: https://www.justgiving.com/page/caitlin-miller-1716208915250