I’m tapering folks. So scaling back on the miles has led my brain to check out a bit on other things. Or something like that. Let’s see, last week was week 17, and my long run was a measly 8 miles! Weekday obligations kept me from some of the shorter runs but I did manage to run on Thursday. I had to pick up another prescription at the pharmacy so I ran there and back for a total of 4.23 miles. When I run errands, I *literally* run errands.

Saturday I would have loved to run my 8 miles early in the day before it got too warm out, but my son was playing in a tennis tournament and I wanted to be there to watch him. It was a lot of fun watching him, but I’ll admit when the sun came out I was growing anxious about completing my 8 miler. I watched his first two matches and then had my husband take me home (the tournament was being held at a local high school) and then returned for the last match. So while the boys were finishing up with tennis, I was out hitting the pavement. I don’t remember much about this run, and I didn’t take notes afterwards, but nothing memorable happened, which is a good thing. No pain, no injuries, no real struggle at all. I’m still feeling strong.

Let me remind you, I’ve never been an athlete. I’ve never been remotely athletic. For many it comes naturally, or so it always seems to me. So this journey into running still really blows my mind. Ten years ago I was using a walker to walk from the couch to the kitchen. Now I’m running 8 miles on a hot day with ease? Little by little, I have become someone who does that. And it’s WEIRD. Because I’m still the same goofy girl inside. I just move a lot differently and am able to say yes to things that would have previously exhausted me. Hallelujah, thank you Jesus.

So week 17 recap is pretty minimal. Total weekly miles were 12.23, bringing my grand total marathon training miles to 489.69. As of today’s posting, The marathon is 10 days away and I am getting excited to slay this beast!