But wait... We are not done yet!
I still had 7 months left in my year! Could it be possible that even with Idaho's nasty winter and spring weather, that I could get in another 500 miles and actually hit 1000 before my original deadline?
Hmmm... let's go for it!
Almost immediately I hit some huge obstacles to that goal.
I hadn't done enough studying to know that you are supposed to take a 3 week break from running after you finish a marathon to give your body adequate recovery.
Oooops! I don't think that running 110 miles including 4 half marathons in the next four weeks, quite fits that proper training picture!
I quickly found out that I had hugely elevated my lactic acid levels and that my potassium and electrolyte levels were seriously depleted.
For the next 3 months, I literally could barely run and ended up with pulled muscles in my legs 3 or 4 times. It was frustrating!
But I kept on persevering. When I couldn't run, I would walk. Unless the temperature was below zero, I'd still get out and do 4 miles or so. I learned not to listen to "Eye of the Tiger"and other motivational music on my iPod because it would get my adrenaline up and I'd blow another muscle out!
By the end of January, I had only added another 116 miles in three months, but I was starting to feel better.
The next problem was that February in Idaho is a very cold month and then March through May tend to be cold, very windy and miserable.
How bad did I want this goal? 1000 miles in a year was something that I never imagined I could do, even when I started this journey.
Here it was, well within my reach if I could just buckle down, deal with the weather and stay healthy.
I needed to put together almost 4-100 mile months to put this thing in the bag!
So I settled into just disciplining myself and getting consistent.
Bad weather... Oh well!
I managed my way through February and ended up right at 100 miles.
Then into March. At first it was still really cold but then it started to warm up. Unfortunately with the warmer temperatures (if you call low to mid 30's warmer) also came the spring winds. Most days in the spring here there can be anywhere from 5 to 45 mph "breezes" and usually on the higher end of that scale.
Let me tell you, running into a stiff breeze in the cold weather of spring is way worse than running in a snowstorm in January.
When the wind feels like it's a hand on your chest holding you back, those miles can take forever to add up!
I still had 7 months left in my year! Could it be possible that even with Idaho's nasty winter and spring weather, that I could get in another 500 miles and actually hit 1000 before my original deadline?
Hmmm... let's go for it!
Almost immediately I hit some huge obstacles to that goal.
I hadn't done enough studying to know that you are supposed to take a 3 week break from running after you finish a marathon to give your body adequate recovery.
Oooops! I don't think that running 110 miles including 4 half marathons in the next four weeks, quite fits that proper training picture!
I quickly found out that I had hugely elevated my lactic acid levels and that my potassium and electrolyte levels were seriously depleted.
For the next 3 months, I literally could barely run and ended up with pulled muscles in my legs 3 or 4 times. It was frustrating!
But I kept on persevering. When I couldn't run, I would walk. Unless the temperature was below zero, I'd still get out and do 4 miles or so. I learned not to listen to "Eye of the Tiger"and other motivational music on my iPod because it would get my adrenaline up and I'd blow another muscle out!
By the end of January, I had only added another 116 miles in three months, but I was starting to feel better.
The next problem was that February in Idaho is a very cold month and then March through May tend to be cold, very windy and miserable.
How bad did I want this goal? 1000 miles in a year was something that I never imagined I could do, even when I started this journey.
Here it was, well within my reach if I could just buckle down, deal with the weather and stay healthy.
I needed to put together almost 4-100 mile months to put this thing in the bag!
So I settled into just disciplining myself and getting consistent.
Bad weather... Oh well!
I managed my way through February and ended up right at 100 miles.
Then into March. At first it was still really cold but then it started to warm up. Unfortunately with the warmer temperatures (if you call low to mid 30's warmer) also came the spring winds. Most days in the spring here there can be anywhere from 5 to 45 mph "breezes" and usually on the higher end of that scale.
Let me tell you, running into a stiff breeze in the cold weather of spring is way worse than running in a snowstorm in January.
When the wind feels like it's a hand on your chest holding you back, those miles can take forever to add up!
(Continued Below)
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