19 Miles on BEAST MODE!

3:20 am.

That is when my stupid alarm went off on Saturday morning.  Ugh.  Too freakin' early!

I started the day with my usual breakfast:  English Muffin with Peanut Butter.  I added banana slices to it.  I think I'm pretty good with this as my pre-run fuel.  My stomach was a bit upset when I woke up, but I was still able to eat this and not have any issues while running.

Noms.

The temperature was almost chilly when we started running.  It was around 50 degrees, so I'm not gonna complain or anything, it just took my legs a bit to actually warm up.  I was also concerned with my water intake.  I tend to drink less when it's cooler out.  Oh, and the cold air made me need to pee.  :)  We were a little over 4 miles when we hit the concessions at the lake, so I was able to use the potty there.

Since the 18 miler pretty much destroyed any thread of confidence I had in my running ability, I was determined to focus on my "just keep running" mantra.  It pretty much worked.  Tim and I were a bit back from the pack going a pace that I felt I could maintain fairly comfortably.  The first 10 miles were pretty steady for me.  My splits were under 11 minute miles with the exception of the potty break and when I did a gel around mile 6.  I felt pretty good when we stopped at the marina.  Jack and Travis were there with some welcomed goodies.  Again, it's awesome to have that support during these long runs.

When we headed back out, the sun was fully up and a welcomed sight.  We were pretty much in the dark the first 7 miles, so having the ability to see again was nice. With the exception of the hills after the marina (cause you all know I hate hills, right?), this part of the run was pretty gorgeous.  The sun and blue sky made me think about how lucky I am to live somewhere so green.  The grassy fields and yellow corn fields made for some wonderful running views.  Tim even had some fun playing with the horses we ran past.  :)

Rant:   Seriously, people, what is your problem?  Can you really not wait until you are at a trashcan to toss out your McDonald's?  Ugh.  Litterbugs suck.  End of Rant.  

I was making a better effort to drink more water during the second part of the run, but of course that meant I needed to potty again when we hit the water plant. Also, my IT Band was starting to bother me a bit.  I mentioned it to Tim and he was concerned since that is what took me out earlier this year. I stretched out my leg a bit and shared a Honey Stinger Waffle with Tim (wasn't sure how the ol' stomach would do on a whole one!) and we headed off again.  I think we only had a little over 4 miles at this point.  I was able to push out another 2 miles before needing to stop one more time because my leg.  I was okay with it though.  I didn't feel defeated or frustrated.  My pace was around 10:30 for those miles and that is really darn good for me that late in the game of a long run.

When we got to Cemetery Hill, we were on our final mile and I knew we would finish before we hit 19th street. I still had about a tenth of mile to run when I caught up with everyone else.  As usual, those ladies were awesome and ran that final bit with me. When I looked down at my Garmin, I was about 10 minutes UNDER my 18 miler time. Heck, yeah!  Talk about a confidence booster!

The best part of this run was I enjoyed it.  I actually had FUN.  Tim was so supportive and goofy with me.  We would start singing Home as loud as we could-- "Home, I'm running home!'  :)  Also, Tim just somehow knows the perfect time to say something encouraging.  Every time a negative thought would creep in my head, he would say something about me being a rockstar or how awesome I was doing.  I know I say it all the time, but he really is fantastic.   

Couldn't do this without him.

 

Anyway, I survived 19 miles!  AND I wasn't miserable afterwards!  I honestly felt like I could have kept on running.  This is a big deal, people!  I am feeling like a BEAST-- watch out!  :)

ETA:  So, um yeah.  I was crazy sore on Sunday.  Like hit by a big ol' truck sore.  Maybe it was the Fried Snickers and the bites of Red Velvet Funnel Cake I had at Applefest the night before... regardless, I was pretty much a Sad Suzy all day. 

Eighteen Miles... of Doubt

I've had a hard time blogging about the 18 miler.  Maybe it's the soul crushing realization that training for a marathon is freakin' crazy and hard.  Crazy hard.  Anyway, it's been a few weeks, so here is a rundown:

1.  My phone alarm went off a 3:50am.  (Have I mentioned I'm not a morning person???)  When I looked at the temp, it was 79 degrees and a heat advisory was already issued for the day.  Blah.

2.  I found my missing shoes.  After the previous week's 17 miler, my feet were killing me.  So, I thought wearing the Brooks PureFlows that I misplaced would help prevent the achy feet this week.  I'm pretty sure Jake thought hiding them under the bed would prevent me from all of this early morning running.  Sorry, pup, I have other shoes!  

3.  Bugs suck.  I have no idea how many I ate when running through the lake.  It was too dark and they were everywhere. 

4.  Jack Huppert is AWESOME.  Once again, we had cold water, Gatorade, and some refreshing orange slices.  He also dipped some towels in ice water.  He totally rocks!

5.  I hate the sun.  The last 6 miles were pretty much all sun and it just fried my brain.  You know it's sad when you start to pick up your pace because you can see 5 feet (maybe) of shade a quarter of mile away. 

6.  Around mile 13, I realized my underarms were chaffing.  I've been chaffed many times in many different places.  I usually don't notice until I take shower and the chaffy bits feel like they are on fire.  However, I was VERY much aware of it this time.  At one point, I thought I may have been bleeding, but was reassured that it was just sweat because, OH, YEAH, I SWEAT A LOT. 

7.  Self-doubt is brutal.  The last 4 miles had me questioning my sanity.  It was hot and I was whiny and I was just trying to get done.  Running hurt.  Walking hurt.  My brain hurt.  I hated everything about the entire thing. 

8.  Tim was my cheerleader that morning.  I may have thanked him for the support, but I'm sure I also cussed at him.  I love you, Tim.  Thanks for tolerating my crazy.

9.  We finished about a mile away from Leah's house.  I was all out of water.  I walked that mile searching for a water spout on the side of every house we passed.  Sadly, I didn't find one, but if I did, I would have caused a spike in the person's water bill.  Next long run, I will remember to pack some cash so I can pop into Casey's. 

10.  Including stops for restrooms, etc., we were out there for 4 hours.  When I signed up for the marathon I put a finishing time of 5:30.  I had hoped I could come in closer to 5 hours.  At this point, I'll be happy if I finish at all. 

 

So, yeah.  I guess the reason it's been hard to write about the 18 miles is because it shattered the very little bit of confidence I had about this whole marathon thing.  Or maybe the sun just fried my brain.  Shrug.  Regardless, I never thought the training would be easy.  I knew that I would be physically pushing my limits-- I'm still a chunky monkey, after all.  I guess I never anticipated it being so mentally hard.  Sure, running is mostly mental, but man, I've never had so many negative thoughts at one time before.  I mean, the negativity was just taking over everything, including my physical ability to just keep moving.  Even when we finished and Tim gave me a high five, I was in a fog run hate.  There was no love there in that moment.  I hated running.

A few weeks later, I am less negative.  In actuality, I was better that afternoon (sitting on my butt in the cold air conditioning helped!) and was pretty happy that I was able to finish that run.  Sure, they were 18 miles of doubt and insecurity, but I did manage to keep on pushing and sometimes that is just what ya gotta do.  I'm sure my running buddies have similar feelings as I do, they are probably just a better at expressing them sanely.  I tend to be dramatic at times.  :)

Anyway, this upcoming weekend we have 19 miles.  The temperature looks to be cooler, so maybe that will help???  Expect an overly dramatic blog post at some point!

Running is hard, but these folks make it a bit easier!