Accountability Monday: 12/26/2017

Good morning! And Merry (belated) Christmas to all who celebrate!

We just wrapped up the holidays with one family and are currently en route to our second of three Christmas celebrations- we put a lot of miles on our cars (and our feet!) this time of year.

With eight days left until the start of Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend, my training for the unofficial Goofy Challenge and unofficial Castaway Cay is officially over! 😁

I finished my last long run, 20 miles, on Christmas Eve, so now I'm a legitimate resident of Taper Town. And it feels so damn good!

Training
Tuesday: 3.1 miles, 10:56 pace
Thursday: 3.1 miles on the treadmill, 12:06 pace
Saturday: 4 miles walked, 15:00 pace. 3.53 miles ran, 11:20 pace
Sunday: 20 miles, 13:41 pace

33.73 total miles

This week felt good. Strong. Fast. Look at those overall paces! This week felt super speedy for me, especially with the total mileage being as high as it was. The only downside to this week's training is the lack of strength workouts. Going into this short taper period (only 13 days until the start of the WDW Half), I'm going to focus on making sure to get in at least four quality strength workouts between now and the race start(s).

Best Run
I had been equally dreading and looking forward to Sunday's 20 miler. Dreading it because my last few long runs have been mentally tough and physically painful. Looking forward to it because I knew it was the last hurdle for this training cycle before heading into a relaxing two weeks of holidays and time with family.

But once I started running, I stopped dreading it. I relaxed. I settled into the run. The miles ticked by and before I knew it, my watch said 18 miles and I'd be done in less than 25 minutes.

And I felt GREAT! Sincerely, honestly, great. My legs were a bit sore and my feet were a little beat up but I could have definitely run 6.2 more miles and finished the marathon distance.

I don't know what changed or what was different, but it was such a solid long run and I feel 100% more confident going into WDW Marathon Weekend than I did just a few weeks ago.

All smiles after 20 miles.
And yes, I wore the Santa hat during the entire run :-)

Bravo Moment
See above. I ran 20 freaking miles. On Christmas Eve. 😁

Quote of the Week
Accurate. Especially when it comes to running.

And because this is the "Christmas edition" of Accountability Monday Tuesday, here's a holiday card from our family to yours! May you find joy, love, and peace this holiday season and in 2018!

PS- Need a little running motivation this week? Check out this weekend's guest post about using running to overcome life's obstacles.


Have a great week, friends!