Amazing Grace

This is such a blessing to see at mile 6!!

Let the TAPER begin!! 3 weeks MINUS a day till Bayshore Marathon. Marathon number 3.
Tapering is scaling back.
At this point of your marathon training you can not cram in extra miles to make up for lost training. This is the leg of our training we have put in all our miles, we have reached our longest run and now we are scaling back.
This is a very important season of our training. It is equally as important as making it to the long run. If you have trained properly your body is begging for rest and recovery and your mind is also at the beginning stages of Burn OUT!  At least mine is!
The basic concept of tapering  is to slowly decrease the duration of training while keeping the intensity and frequency of workouts the same allowing the body and mind to rest and be prepared for that important race.

Last week I ran 22 miles. Today I ran 18. It was such a blessing. I was at breakfast this morning and said to mom "Who would have thought I would look forward to running 18 miles!"

The other great thing about scaling back was I was gonna have Andy to run 3/4 of my run today. He merged his long run to Sundays so he has a partner as well.

Belford Rd. So beautiful.

Caught by the train!

We had great weather. It was overcast and 66' out. We ran the back roads. It was stunning out there. The smells of fresh cut grass and blooming trees sifted through the air. We enjoyed the farm areas questioning what they were growing in their fields. We even had the pleasure of seeing 2 deer in the fields. I was totally in my elements.

After 13 miles of running with Andy we departed. I dropped him off at home and kept going.  I had to put a little kick into it. Andy wanted to see the 5pm showing of Avengers with the boys. I took a chomp and turned on the Ipod and took off. I kicked the pace up to a 8:15 from a 9:30 pace.

As I was coming up on mile 17 I was wanting to be done. I was moving faster than I had with Andy and wanted so badly to maintain this speed. Amazing Grace sang through my ear buds. I could feel the tears well up in my eyes. As I wanted to quit God reminded me of all the other times in life I wanted to quit. God reminded me I never quit then and I was not going to quit now. I had a hard time breathing as I felt humbled on Grange Hall Rd. Tears rested in my eyes. Out loud I cried " I will not quit, I will not quit..." Lord, You have carried me through so much, You believed in me when I didn't believe in myself, Therefore I will NOT QUIT...You never quit on me. I thought to myself as I saw my street up ahead. 
I never quit, as I looked down at my watch I was running a 7:30 pace by Gods strength alone. He never quit on me. I am so thankful my Father believes in me....

Anita