Week 10! Wow, it is hard to believe that I am at the halfway point of my training. When I started this journey, I never imagined that I would get to this point so fluidly. What I mean by that is, I have been following this training program by Reebok, and I have not gotten bored with it once.
I think listening to Stephen King’s IT is helping to pass the time. It is hard to believe that I only have FIVE HOURS (out of 45 hours!) left on this audiobook. I’m excited to be finished with this in time to see the newly filmed IT movie in September. My next audiobook adventure will be Margret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. I want to read/listen to it before I watch the Hulu series based on the book. I am so excited for this next one!
Well, my fundraising has slowed quite a bit. It seems that when people know you have reached your “goal,” the donations dry up. But, I keep asking just the same. There is no harm in asking, right? If you have not donated to my cause yet, please do so NOW: http://info.avon39.org/goto/cbbhattacharya.
This week saw a drastic upswing in training miles. My moderate walk increased from three miles to four this week. I laid low during the week to rest up for my big walks this past weekend. On Saturday, I participated in the American River Parkway Half Marathon in Sacrament, CA. I participated in the walking section and completed 13.37 miles in three and a half hours! I was so excited to reach this goal. Last year, I also participated in this half marathon but, I was 32 weeks pregnant and just wanted to finish it. This time around, I really dug deep and pushed myself.
I also participated in a little self-imposed experiment. I have been eating a ketogenic diet now for six months. Through the assistance of other athletes, I was encouraged to attempt the half marathon in a fasted state. I was pretty sure that I would not be able to finish fasted, so I brought some keto friendly snacks as well as my BCAA’s with electrolytes as a backup in my hydration pack. As luck would have it, I was able to finish strong without needing to partake in my snacks…AND I had tons of energy doing it. This is a huge accomplishment for me. I have been “ruled by food” for so long that it is becoming clear that I can do endurance events without much food thus allowing my body to be fueled by ketones (the by-products of fat synthesis) versus carbohydrates. Such an exciting discovery.
On Sunday, I finished my endurance weekend (although it won’t show in this week’s numbers because of how the tracking is set up) with an 8-mile walk. You don’t realize how tired you are until you try to walk eight miles after completing a half marathon. I was feeling great up until the last two miles, then I was really dragging. I’m sure I was really a sight for sore eyes dragging myself up the street with my multi-colored neon walking pants, an orange hydration back, and big, noise canceling headphones. Ahhh…but I made it nonetheless.
This week I will see a respite in long walking. While my moderate walk will continue to be four miles, the endurance walks are just six and four miles, respectively. This is a great rest before the miles start getting packed on. I am in the home stretch now, and the miles will only increase from here. I am a little nervous about the impending 20-mile walk followed by a nine-mile walk. But, all of these walks are preparing me for the BIG ones…39.2 miles in TWO days.
Well, lovely people, I hope you have an amazing week and thank you for reading my story! Come back next week to read more and say “hello!”
Listening to: Audiobook- IT by Stephen King
Total Mileage: 21.09 miles
Total training time: 6 hrs 52 mins
- Sunday, April 23: REST
- Monday, April 24: 0.69 miles/recovery walk
- Tuesday, April 25: 3 miles FAST
- Wednesday, April 26: 30 mins Crosstraining/weights
- Thursday, April 27: 4.02 miles Moderate
- Friday, April 28: 30 mins cross-training/housework
- Saturday, April 29: 13.37 miles
