Week 43 Wrap-up (almost at the end of week 42...oops...)

Week 43 was a tough one--the longest mileage of the marathon training program I've been following. Man, did I feel it on Monday, but I survived and can definitely tell the training is paying off. I did my longest run to date last Sunday--18 miles--with the exception of feeling sluggish in general (some contributing factors were my fault; others were Mother Nature's) and the fact that I was ready to scream for the last two miles (my stomach wasn't too happy at the time), it wasn't too bad. Admittedly, I'm very glad I was running with other people (Michele, Kerry, and Jeremy)--I know I wouldn't have pushed myself as hard as we seemed to push each other (or rather, as hard as they pushed each other and pulled me along for the ride).

I also had the somewhat mind-numbing experience of doing a 8-miler on a treadmill--I had to cover up the time, mileage, etc. with a magazine or I would've driven myself insane looking at the stats and watching the time literally crawl by. I did concede and listen to my iPod--definitely would've had a meltdown if I didn't have my favorite piece of technology to soothe my bored little nerves... The masochistic IT band foam roller stretch seems to be helping--pain free for several weeks--and all other things are feeling great (albeit a tad tired).

On Saturday I had the somewhat unnerving experience of wetsuit shopping--I took a trek up to Mission Bay Multisport in Elgin to survey the options and figure out what I wanted (my parents are giving me a wetsuit for Christmas and my birthday--very cool). I had thought I would end up with an Orca--I borrowed Erin's Orca Predator 2 sleeveless wetsuit for a couple of things this year and it seemed to work OK, so I figured I'd start there and see what happened. However, after talking with the guy at the store, he suggested I give the Ironman Instinct suit a try--he thought the chest and neck would be less constricting, which they were. I tried it on and it felt awesome (well, as awesome as a dry wetsuit can feel, I guess)--the arms felt great, good shoulder movement, and I could breathe without wanting to rip the neck apart--all in all, a nice change from what I was expecting. So, that's what I'm going with...one more major equipment decision made.

Here's the roll-up for the week...

Run: 7:04:49 / 44.36 miles
Bike: Goose Egg
Swim: 0:35:00 / 1400 meters
Strength: 0:30:00 (all core still)