We made it to double digits, folks! Don’t know if I should be excited or terrified about that because it means the race is only 6 weeks away 😮 I got into the groove with my 4-day run routine this week and I’m really starting to like it. It gives me just enough off days to focus on cross-training and recovery.

Definitely needed that recovery a little more than usual this week since I had some surprise injuries pop up. The usual knee pain came every few miles, my shins were super sore, and my quads felt really tight, but those loosened up with some foam rolling and lacrosse ball exercises. The real pain this week was the top of my left foot. It started hurting a little bit towards the end of one of my weekday runs, but the next morning when it hurt to even put pressure on it, I started to get worried. Of course I googled it and kept seeing articles about stress fractures – immediate panic! Just what I needed with a little more than a month until race day. I took it easy and iced for a couple days so I could be well rested for my long run on the weekend.

Let’s talk about that long run…it was my first 15-miler! I’ve never run that far IN MY LIFE. They weren’t the easiest and I had to stop and walk for a bit when my knee or foot started acting up, but I pushed through. With this run and some of my weekday runs, I wanted to call it quits halfway through. I was tired, in pain, and couldn’t find the strength to pick the pace up above a jog.

I’ve said it before, running is a physical and mental sport. You’re constantly battling with yourself to dig deep and find the energy to perform. For me, digging deep meant giving myself pep talks during the moments I wanted to quit the most. I kept saying, “Lex, you’re doing this for people who can’t.” Although running a marathon is at the top of my bucket list; I’m not running this race for me. I’m running it for the thousands of people currently battling with ALS. That’s what’s keeping me going and getting me through each and every training run.

I closed out this week with just under 35 miles, woo woo! Ready to head into Week 11, hopefully without any other surprise injuries 🙂

Check out my Crowdrise page to donate to my campaign & support the ALS Association: http://bit.ly/BostonBeginnings262