15

I had pictures taken of all the fabulous new Koigu yarn, plus pictures of the yarn winder and swift in action, but I just ran 15 miles tonight and I am pooped. So pictures will come tomorrow.

15 miles was pretty grueling, but I'm glad to have done it. GPG ran with me when it got dark, and we basically ran the whole thing without resting, which really wore me out. I ran 12 miles last week, and even the teeny one-minute breaks I took to drink water and walk a bit helped a lot. I managed to do those 12 miles in 1:47, including breaks. This time it took me 1:51 to do 12 miles. It took me 2:20 to do the full 15.

Still, I think my legs are improved from the last run. When I did the last 12, my left leg in particular did not like driving home and stepping on the clutch of my car. I was driving in 2d and 3d gear on regular streets and 4th gear on the freeway because I didn't want to step on the clutch that one extra time to bump up to the proper gear! This time my legs didn't complain quite so much.

But, I'm definitely tired and will probably sleep the sleep of the dead tonight. When taking a shower and rubbing soap over myself, I noticed that everywhere (stomach, arms, shoulders, etc.) felt like I'd been bruised all over. I hadn't quite expected that, even though it makes sense because all body parts are involved and get tired during long runs like this. I think that doing the actual marathon is going to be killer.

If my legs recover well enough, I'll try for 18 miles later this week, maybe on Thursday. Then 21 sometime next week. And then the marathon will be here. Eek. I can only hope that this crash-course training a) will do me some good without b) doing me lots of bad.