18 Miles

My training schedule called for a 12 mile run today, but I decided to run the 18 miller because of scheduling conflicts next weekend.

Last Saturday I ran a relatively good 16 miller . (as good as 16 miles can be) :) I expected today’s run to be a "repeat performance". What’s an extra two miles? I thought it would be no big deal. Unfortunately I was wrong. The run was difficult, but I survived. So as they say, "What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger" right? :)

I met Dianna and our friend Charlie at 7:00. Dianna had a 20 miller on her schedule, so she ran two miles with Charlie before I arrived. The first 6 miles felt really good. We were in high spirits, chatting away, and enjoying the beauty of a cool, sunny morning run. When I heard Dianna’s watch beeping at us because we were running too fast, I wasn’t concerned. When we reached the ten mile marker, we quickly stopped to refuel. I was feeling a little weird and I didn’t want to end up with stomach problems, so I opted against trying my first power gel and ate my staple "refuel" food - fruit.

Things quickly went downhill after the stop. My calves were tense, my knees were sore and I was just plain tired. At one point Dianna reminded me about Chi Running and I thought--I don’t even have the energy to worry about my form. I'm just trying to get my feet to move one step in front of the other.

As we continued running I told Dianna and Charlie I would try to run with them until the turnaround point and then slow down. The sun started beating down and the slightly rolling hills felt like I was running up Mt. Everest (Okay, so that is a huge exaggeration, but there were hills!) :) Soon enough I had significantly fallen behind, but I was happy for Dianna. She was running strong and I did not want to hold her back. (She can totally qualify for Boston. Have some faith girl!)

After we separated, Charlie (who I think may be part Super Man) was awesome. He would drop back to run with me and then sprint ahead to run with Dianna. Even though I could hardly talk, he was full of encouragement and stories.

At mile 15-ish I was exhausted. I started thinking:
~ Why am I doing this?
~ This isn’t fun anymore!
~ I’m not a "real runner" like Dianna and Charlie.
~ Why does everything hurt?

At this point Charlie asked me, "Do you want me to carry your water bottle?" I’m not sure he was quite prepared for my response. I suddenly burst into tears. I had reached a breaking point, but seeing how it was near impossible to run and cry at the same time, I quickly tried to gain my composure and we kept running. In the end, I finished several minutes behind my running partners, but at least it was over. We survived!!!

Mile 1: 8:54
Mile 2: 8:52
Mile 3: 9:03
Mile 4: 8:53
Mile 5: 8:51
Mile 6: 8:56
Mile 7: 8:39
Mile 8: 8:48
Mile 9: 9:00
Mile 10: 9:08
Mile 11: 9:06
Mile 12: 9:10
Mile 13: 8:52
Mile 14: 9:00
Mile 15: (9:30?)
Mile 16: (9:30?)
Mile 17: (9:30?)
Mile 18: (9:30?)