3/20/10

Saturday's Training - Am: 74 mins Pm: 68 mins

Mileage - 20 miles

As much as today was supposed to be a nice recovery day, it ended up being pretty jam packed. I got to bed late last night because I was at work so I slept in till 8am and got some coffee and toast down me before heading out for a nice and slow 10 miles. My legs felt absolutely fine from yesterday so that was great news. For some reason it was really really cold this morning, I mean chilled to the bone cold. Yesterday was really nice and warm but it was the complete opposite today. I actually had to go back into the house and put on 2 more layers. It was also really windy so that was good for keeping me really slow and at recovery pace.

When I got back from the run, Julie and I got quickly changed (she had also just been for a run) and jumped into the car to take a quick trip down to Sedona. I had been telling Julie about some amazing waterfalls I saw the week before so we were hoping to get some pictures of them. Unfortunately, the snow had melted a lot and there were no more waterfalls but Sedona being Sedona, we could get some nice photos anyway. We stopped and had a coffee in a cafe that faced out to the red rock cliffs which was really nice. We had to head back up the road pretty quickly though because I had to get my second run in before heading to work at 3.30pm. I jumped out of the car, got changed and headed right out for another 10 miles. I felt fine on the run but I was pretty sleepy (missing my nap) so still kept it slow.

Work wasn't actually too busy tonight so I got away right at 10pm and headed home for a really nice sleep!

Julie

My fiancé, Julie Fisher has been invaluable to my marathon build up. She used to be a good runner on the Northern Arizona University track and cross-country team so she knows what it is like to punish your body in the ways I do. There was actually a book (Inner Strength Inner Peace) recently written by her old coach in high school, Tim McClellan, that devotes a whole chapter on what a hard worker she was and how she would collapse over the line every time she raced because she literally gave everything she had. This is something she never told me about so it was quite inspiring to read these things about her. Julie has been my physical therapist, water carrier, pacer and general sounding board for me and she has really helped me so much in the last few weeks when my training has become progressively harder and longer. She is always so positive about everything and it has been great to have someone like that around me all the time. I have felt bad for her as something always seems to happen when she is out there on the bike beside me. On my first 24 mile run, she followed on the bike with fluids but it was freezing cold and the snow was coming down and being whipped into our face by a nasty wind. She got to 10 miles and as we tried to grab our drinks she was in tears with how painful her hands were with the cold (She gets very bad Reynauds). She then had to ride 10 miles back while I continued the run and get in the car to try and warm up a little. She was still cold 70 mins later when I got back to the car. Then there was the bike crash she suffered just over a week ago when I was doing my 26 mile run. I’m not sure if it will be safe for her to come out when I do my 28 mile run in a few weeks.

Ever since I met Julie I have been amazed by how happy she always is and this was such an attractive quality for me. She always just wants to please others and its something I really admire in her. I feel so lucky that she said yes when I asked her to marry me and my challenge now is just not to mess anything up before she says “I do” on the big day!