The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

No, I am not describing the three "Girls on the Run" here although if I were I better call myself ugly because my mom and sister are not "girls" to mess with. And, I am not a fan of conflict and would rather be the ugly one, than find myself offending my good "Hollyanna" mother or my "bad to the bone" sis who has fought in Iraq and trained cadets in boot camp. Hmm, I guess the title does mostly work, although I still dont know how the ugly part fits. Unless we are talking about how my abs have split down the middle after three pregnancies and resemble a butt more than a belly...and the stretch marks...

I digress.

The good, the bad and the ugly of marathon training. To date. I will probably come up with more as the date gets nearer and my mileage increases but here are some observations, experiences and opinions of the past 8 weeks. (BTW, I have completely lost count of what week I am on training - wise...life has not allowed me to follow my schedule to the tee, which my mother will tell you is a bit like slow torture for me. )

Good: My muscle tone is great
Bad: My quads will not squeeze themselves into any pair of pants that I own
Ugly: my belly has not improved with my running efforts!

Good: Chocolate Gu, lemon Gu
Bad: the fact that I talk about a substance called "Gu" and that there are other sort of normal people out there that also know what the heck I am talking about
Ugly, very Ugly: Mixed Berry Gu, which (I so noted on FB) tastes remarkably similar to the goopy icky flouride treatment I used to get as a kid at the dentists office. And really, marathon training is hard enough - there should be NO reminders of the dentist's office while training for a marathon. It should be a rule.

Good: Finishing my longest run to date, which will happen quite frequently now that I am upping my mileage each week - yay us!
Bad: 95 degree SO Cal days and the prospect of a 15 mile run
Ugly: Wondering how many skunks and cayotes I will have to fight as I leave the house before the sun rises...

Okay now some random ones, not set in that cute order..
Bad - hubby working around the clock and no one to watch the 4 year old while I attempt to run
Bad - needing to eat, drink and pee while running - this is why marathon training is crazy and unnatural
Bad - my obsession with fact finding, and the fun little forum I found on runners who have done the athens marathon in the past...and the fact that people run the Athens Marathon REALLY SLOWLY...because there are like, 1000 hills to climb. Great.
Ugly - chafing that didnt happen at 10 miles that suddenly happens at 14. Anything that is cotton is BAD, including unmentionables...FYI
Bad - apparently anything that is cotton, including unmentionables (see above)
Bad - that I am a pastor's wife and that I am mentioning chafing unmentionables in a blog.
Good - not too many people read this blog.

**Runners Log (wow that sounds really cheesy and Treky but I will come up with a better name later) - Ran 6 miles on the treadmill at the Y today with the three boys in child care. Simulated Hill Running and got the lactic acid goin...Drank a ton of water. Realized I am limited to two hour runs for the next two weeks due to hubby's work schedule and fact that I cannot leave my 4 year old at home alone.