April 2023 Monthly Running Challenge

Sorry folks, I'm here to moan about my run this morning! It was one of those soul-destroying ones that I try and convince myself mean little but are great mental toughness training. I am trying to believe myself today.
My 1st marathon is on the 23rd of this month. My training has been far from conventional, I stopped relying on training plans for road running and as a slow trail runner, the time-based runs my coach prescribes end up being shorter in distance than you would typically see on a generic plan. My brain already struggles with that part, I'm having to force myself to have faith in the process etc and not let myself freak out about not having 'run all the miles'.
So, as I won't have time at the weekend and coach is happy for me to switch days around, I went out this morning for my last 'long' run. He said 2.5 hours but I decided to do 3 because again, the time thing is messing with my mind because I know this marathon's going to take me 5.5-6 hours.
My legs are tight and tired, I keep making the mistake of thinking that because I didn't run for 10 days my legs shouldn't be tired, then I remember that during that time we walked 118km in 6 days. So at least I have had a lot of time on feet.
My friend picked me up and drove us out of town, and we did a 12.5 loop through the hills together, then she left me and I ran back down on my own. She was having a bad day, so we walked a lot, and oh boy was it hard to say goodbye to her and keep going. I forgot to take my headphones to put some music on, and the negative talk started in my head, basically telling me I haven't trained enough and there's no way I can run a marathon because I was exhausted after a couple of hours. Actually I went into a run-walk-run pattern of letting myself walk for 30 seconds or so every 500 metres and probably could have gone on like that for a while longer, but not another 3 hours.
Then just to completely destroy my soul, I bumped into my ex who I hadn't seen for 27 years. When I stank and looked dead and trashed. ARGH! Lol.
So yeah, anyone want a place for Sherry Marathon? (I'm joking. I think.)

4/1 15.27 miles, The wind is a bully!
4/2 15.56 miles, I am so cold! 37°F
4/3 15.29 miles 57°F and still lose fine motor skills/cold
4/4 15.3 miles, 1800 days on the run, 982 days HM+ Streak

@Scott6255 I enjoyed reading about your run this morning. Glad you made it without a head on collision or getting caught by a dog! I always think things look scarier in the dark. Here most people have little Christmas light like collars for their dogs and you just see the lights bobbing up and down, but without street lights you have no indication of whether it a chihuahua or Great Dane coming, so my imagination always tends to get the best of me there imagining some fierce creature.

@quilteryoyo I also enjoyed your pictures. It seems like you are really busy! I hope you get you car troubles fixed. I know it must be annoying that they couldn’t give you an exact diagnosis, but hopefully they can find the root of the problem soon!

@eleanorhawkins I am sorry your run was so hard today! But you got through it! I am sure you are sore from the hiking too and, as you said it, being in your feet all day. Would you recommend the Camino walk, even though the section you did was mostly road? I am fully confident that you will succeed in your marathon! You have done so many long runs. You are definitely prepared for it!

@tarun_yadavA It must be quite a shock to go from London weather to Florida weather and with the time change!

I went on a slightly longer run than yesterday this morning 7km. I am glad that I can get some mountain running in, since I never run hills at home. It’s definitely more mentally challenging, but the views of the mountains and valleys, rivers, streams, and lakes are worth it!

After my run, I scarfed down breakfast and we went on a long hike. Long, because it was with kids and my parents who are currently visiting from Virginia and that is definitely a long way for both of those groups! It was a little over 10km, although I didn’t start “officially” tracking the distance until we had already walked several kilometres. The kids all did a great job keeping up, but I did have to carry my 3 year old about 2/3rds of the way on my shoulders. He is quite heavy, so we will see if my back has anything to say about that tomorrow… I am so happy that the kids enjoyed themselves in the forest so much and am looking forward to having more adventures with them.

So far for April I have completed 22.3/175km.

@quilteryoyo you are having some busy and challenging times as well! Hope your car issues get resolved without too much expense. I will add a little to my offerings to the car gods for yours as well Cutie pie grandkids!

@eleanorhawkins your trail running is awesome and always full of adventure (whether it's fun adventure or not). You are strong and will be ready for your marathon. I think you showed your ex that you are killing it out there

I can't remember who said it was 90 degrees. I can't imagine already. But I do see 78 in our 10 day forecast which is pretty amazing for early April.

I managed some walking each day while I was in Boston. On Monday when we arrived we walked around the Harvard campus so that was cool to see. My friend bought her teen daughter a Harvard sweatshirt to motivate her . On Tuesday we walked to breakfast before my appointment to a creperie that was fabulous. I think my crepe breakfast negated the walk, but it was worth it. I also took Stella for a walk that evening after I got home.

Non-walking/running updates you can skip:
Hoping things progress positively on all fronts today! I'm going to try to walk this morning before it rains. Have a good day everyone.

April total: 15.1/115 miles

4/1: 6 miles
4/3: 4 miles
4/5: 5.1 miles

It was full on summer temps this morning. 76F before sunrise, 88% humidity. Blegh. I'm back to sports bra running and having to carry water for every run. But, on the plus side, no snakes!
I also went to pilates again yesterday. It was so hard! I can already tell the difference in my posture and a bit in my upper body, which is very motivating.

ETA: After seeing another comment about bugs, I remembered I left out part of my run story this morning. I almost died (little dramatic but that's what it feels like in the moment) after a gnat flew into the back of my throat. I hate those little bugs so much! There is all this space around me, and somehow they find my nose, my mouth, my eyes!