One thing I'm really good at is setting goals. I've always loved to dream big and imagine all the cool things I could do in life. My desire to set and achieve big goals led to me to run my first marathon while I was still in college, graduate college a semester early, move back to DC to pursue a new career and even tackle my first triathlon.



But sometimes what I struggle with is the motivation after the initial excitement about the goal wears off.

Sure it's easy to plunk down money on a race entry fee and totally rock the first six weeks of a training plan. The motivation is kicked into high gear, and I want nothing more than to dominate my workouts.

But then the excitement starts to wear off a little bit. I struggle to balance training with real life, and suddenly I'm missing a workout here or a workout there.

Last week, I talked about what I struggle with during marathon training, so I thought this week I'd shed some light on some of the things I've learned this marathon training cycle.

First and foremost, I've learned that no matter how many races I train for, no two training cycles are exactly the same. 



So even when I think I've got it all figured out, my legs like to remind me that I am just wrong sometimes.

Usually, my injury prone little legs love their rest days. I tend to operate best on three to four days of running each week with rest days falling before and after my long run day.

Except for this training cycle.

I've learned in the last few weeks that I rebound much, much better from my really long runs if I can fit in a very easy three-miler the following day.



What?! That was never the case before this year. But the weeks I've been able to make this happen, my subsequent mid-distance runs later in the week go a million times better.

I've also learned that my flag football games actually really help flush some of the lactic acid crap out of my legs.



Because flag football is a lot of starting and stopping, quick sprints followed by some shorter rest, I  spend a lot more time warming up and cooling down afterward, which helps move along any lingering gunk left over in my muscles from my super long runs. Odd, but true.

I've learned that no matter how much I say I'm going to cross-train during marathon training, I'll fall off the wagon after a few weeks.



Eventually running just take priority as the mileage gets higher and higher and the cross-training days become less important and more necessary for rest days and mental breaks from the constant training grind.

I've learned training is more mental than physical for me. There's a point in the beginning of training where the physical is the hard part and building mileage is tough, but eventually you get that base built and then it becomes much more mental. That's where I struggle. I'm at the point now where I feel trained and ready to run this race and once I have that confidence, it's easy for me to lose running motivation quickly.

I've learned all this training makes me itch to race again. I haven't run a race since early June, not even a 5K fun run! That's insanity for me people. I'm so, sooooo glad I have a race this coming weekend. I'm using it as a training run, but I don't even care, I just miss the race atmosphere so much and I'm dying to get back to it. Plus Megan and Coach Zach will be running it too, so it will just be a big running party.

What have you learned from your training that's surprised you?

Sometimes running buddies are the only thing that get me through my long runs.

Knowing that I was meeting Megan and Jax five miles into my 20 mile run on Friday morning, motivated me to get out the door, despite the fact that my legs felt like bricks and the weather was crappy.



When I started the run, it was so humid, you could actually see the moisture in the air. That, combine with my heavy legs, made for a slow 20 mile slog.

I ran the first 4.5 miles listening to my music and trying to keep my spirits up. I was feeling and moving so slowly. I kept telling myself to just get to Megan and Jax and things would get easier.

Megan and Jax were so happy and upbeat that they instantly brightened my mood. Sure my legs still felt like crap, but when you're running along with friends, it's easier to keep your legs moving a little faster, and conversation helps distract from the discomfort.

Sure enough, as I looked at Garmin, I saw my speed was picking up. The fact that we were running the next five miles downhill probably helped that too.



Jax split off after 11 miles, and Megan and I pushed on to knock out the next five miles back uphill. That's the bad thing about out and backs. The downhills are great, but then you have to turn around and run back up them.

Running five miles uphill is not fun. At all. Especially because at the point the sun had come out, and it was getting hot.



We made a pit stop to fill up our water bottles somewhere around mile 12, and by the time we got to mile 16, I had nearly drained the whole thing.

By mile 17, everything hurt. My hips were tight, my quads were miserable and I was seriously questioning how I was going to finish this run. I just wanted to walk. Megan suggested we stop for a quick stretch break, which helped a bunch.

At that point, I was so, so sick of running and I just wanted to get home, so I put my head down and powered through the rest of the miles. It wasn't pretty, but I got it done.



Slower than last week, but I don't even care.

I was a hot and sweaty mess by the time I finished.



I think you could literally wring the sweat out of my shirt. I've never been so happy to get in an ice bath to cool down.

Even though it wasn't the best run ever, I'm glad that I now have two 20 milers under my belt as part of this training cycle. Usually, I only do one 20 miler per marathon training cycle, but this time I wanted to step it up just a bit, so I have two 20 milers and a 22 on my schedule. I have a cutback week this week and then 22 next week and then it's taper time.

I'm so ready for the race to be here!