Count Down to LA Marathon

I've got one more week til I get to check off another goal. The LA Marathon coming up on Sunday, 3/4 is meant to toughen me up mentally. I must admit, I'm definitely ready to wind things down (only for a little while because I have Solvang 1/2 Century and, ultimately, Ironman). I don't plan to "race" Sunday but actually run with my 9:30-10 minute group. It's all about training for me!

Here is what I had this week leading up to LA:
Mon: 4 miles easy & Yoga class
Tues: 3 miles on the treadmill, a short core workout and then Torture Clinic**
**We did our BIGGEST ride-a 30 minute climb! Man, was that tough!! All that work should pay off at Solvang.
Wed: Off
Thurs: Core Class (Carl killed us again: 200 yard run, 5 push ups, 10 situps, and 15 lunges... as many as we circuits we could do in 20min. I had 11 circuits). Torture testing-this went bad. Not only did I gain weight, but my heartrate didn't change much due to the caffine I'd had that day. The coach was literally disappointed in me... and mentioned it several times. Sucked!
Fri: I took this off... resting up and carbo loaded with runners.
Sat: off
Sun: LA MARATHON!! This race was ok. I was disappointed in the narrow streets at the beginning, especially with 25,000+ runners. That made it hard to hold our pace (10/mile). I wanted simply to stick with the 10/mile runners since this was just a training run for me. We stuck together until mile 10-11, then lost 3 people to the bathrooms. Jim and I trekked along and then lost each other at mile 19. At mile 22 a nasty hill... it's the downhill that KILLED me. From there out, I need to dig deep mentally... this is EXACTLY what I set out to achieve this race. I pulled through despite the heat (80 degrees) and pain. I finished with the slowest time EVER: 4:38:21.

Now onto Solvang 1/2 century this weekend....

Past few weeks

Here we go again...

Past few weeks workout log:
Mon, 2/12-easy 4 mile run. But I think I wanted to walk in after mile 3!
Tues 2/13-4 mile run & Torture Clinic for 1:20:00. Including getting my certificate on the rollers! (40 minutes all by myself on the rollers!)
Wed 2/14: Off!
Thurs 2/15: 4 miles, Off Season Core Training (Carl killed us with a circuit of kettlebells, burpies, sit ups, push ups, lunges and pull ups), Torture Clinic 1:20:00.
Fri 2/16: Off (Man! I'm tired!)
Sat 2/17: New Training group started so I only got 4 miles in. Darn! I should have gotten in 10.
Sun 2/18: Went to San Luis Opispo to visit friends...

Mon 2/19: Back from SLO, massage with Mary (not as bad as last visit, but she still had me off the table), and got in contact with an old friend, Adrian, who is doing Ironman New Zealand in a few weeks!
Tues 2/20: 4 miles easy, but I skipped Torture (first time!). Met up with Rick and Julie for dinner... they think I look burnt out. I gotta say, I'm ready for LA to be over with and Torture clinic to switch up.
Wed 2/21: 4 miles easy
Thurs 2/22: 4 miles & Torture clinic 1:20:00 (with a 24 minute climb!). My abductors were screaming!!!!
Fri 2/23: Off
Sat 2/24: 8 miles but was tired. Supposed to do 10 but didn't have it in me
Sun: Slept in until 10am! Man I needed it.

I just feel wiped out. Between LA Marathon, and Torture clinic I just feel like toast! My legs are strong, and I feel ok, but I'm just exhausted. I'm still trying to listen to my body and take care of myself (mostly through sleep and eating right).

Why the hell can't I get nutrition right??!! Too many empty calories, too little calories overall, no desire to eat the healthy food... etc!