"Oh, fourteen! Oh, fourteen..."

As the title might suggest, I attempted 14 miles last Sunday, and wow, it sure was brutal. The first half was miraculously comfortable, actually. So, maybe I'll just stay positive, and focus on the fact that running 7 miles is apparently now an activity that I can occasionally refer to as "comfortable." I mean, that's kind of awesome, right?

Not awesome was my attempt at running 4 measly miles on a treadmill last night. I thought running inside might be easier than running out in the extreme heat of yesterday evening, but I'm not sure it was any better. To be honest, it was just down right demoralizing. Between the second half of my 14 mile run and last night, I've been having a lot of moments of "What did I get myself in to," "WHY did I EVER think this was a good idea?!" and a whole big bunch of "WHAT is the POINT?!".

The point originally was to just prove to myself that I could do it; to set a goal and to work towards achieving it. (And maybe to enjoy a trip to Chicago in the process.) It also just sounded like a fun challenge that I could share in with my brother who first came up with the idea.

Unfortunately, lately, those things just aren't feeling like enough.

In fact, not only my training, but just the state of the world lately has got me really, really bummed out right now.

So here's my solution:

The Merethon Fundraiser - Water.Org

I really liked the idea of running the marathon for charity, but signing up for an official charity spot seemed like a surprising amount of pressure!! I'm really pleased to have found a way to still support a great organization while running the marathon. I may even snag one of their official Team.Water.org running shirts for marathon day.

So, yeah. Feel free to donate on my page if you feel so inclined! Or to any other worthy cause/organization of your choosing. Whatever helps!

The Running Total:

• August:  62.84
• 2014:  220.21

Let that raga drop...

So, I thought listening to Ravi Shankar while running might be the best idea I've had yet.

And it was, until about halfway through the second raga, when while dreamily staring up in to the giant clouds rolling in, my left foot caught the uneven ledge of a Kentucky St. sidewalk and I was unceremoniously splayed out on to the cement. I was left with a single scratch, but no blood spilled. However, my shoulders were sore for days, most likely from catching myself on the way to the ground.  Very luckily, it was no worse than that.

I attempted a 10-mile run last weekend, but having failed to review my planned route before leaving the house, I left out a couple turns here and there and ended up with only a 9.3 mile run. It was still my longest run ever up till that point, and near enough to 10 that I don't feel all that badly about it.

This past Saturday saw my first attempt at a 12 mile run. Luckily, I did not listen to the weather forecast, or I might still be at home waiting for all those thunderstorms... The first half of the run was cool and overcast. The second was just steeeeeeamy, and kinda awful. But I did it!

Next up...14 miles!

The Running Total:

• August:  44.84
• 2014:  202.21

(I've given up keeping track of cycling mileage - mostly because I've done little to none :( )