I did my longest run yet yesterday morning, and it went okay. Eighteen miles! These last couple of runs have really made me feel, finally, the magnitude of marathon training and the marathon itself. It is REALLY hard. Since I'm not so fast, my run yesterday took me 3 hrs 15 min. That's a long time to be running! (I'll try not to think too much about how lots of people finish their entire 26.2 in that time, or even shorter...)
Actually, I guess I should be saying the run went GREAT because there was nothing really bad that happened to make it worse than it can be expected to feel like. I guess there was that 6 miles in the second half that I needed to go to the bathroom, but never bad enough that it was an emergency. It was enough that it overshadowed the run though. Okay, I'll upgrade yesterday's run status from 'okay' and down from 'GREAT' to just 'good'. Yesterday's run was a good run. When I was finished, I walked my quarter mile in that I'd built in to cool down, and that was miserable. It was hard to walk and it felt like I was crawling. It felt like it took an eternity to get home from my stopping point. I think that was really good to experience though, because now I know what it would feel like if I decided to give up near the end and start walking. I'd rather just run!
By the last 4-5 miles of these last two runs, I've started to get a bit down and think negative things like 'This is barely more than halfway!' or 'Can you run 12 more miles after this point?' I think these are actually not very helpful thoughts to have like I felt like they were. Because when I get to mile 17 or 18, I know that if I needed to, I could keep going for another 8 or 9 miles. It will just be a lot of work! And it will hurt! BUT! I can do it. And I will, unless something happens beyond my control.
My friends came with me for the first 10 miles of this run, which was awesome! They've been so supportive of my training, while glad at the same time that they opted not to do it! Lucky for me, I'm pretty motivated to make this thing happen. I'm REALLY glad I decided to just go for it. Really really really glad! It's a bit early to be congratulating myself, but I'm proud of myself for being able to do what I've done. I'll try not to jinx myself and say any more about that until the race is over. And I will pray (and cross my fingers and knock on wood and skin a cat and whatever else) that I will be ABLE to run this whole 26.2 miles! I'm so grateful to have an able body! It's not without its little problems, but everyone is that way, right? I'm currently keeping a watchful eye on some minor arch and achilles tendon twinges and aches and pains, in addition to my hips that have bothered me since Miles was born, especially the one that I pulled at soccer in April. Wish me luck that nothing becomes a deal breaker!
I guess the only other important thing about yesterday's run is that I printed up one of those pace bracelets and attempted to rein myself in and not just start running faster and faster until I was too tired and had to slow down. Unfortunately, I did too good of a job and was slower than the pace bracelet the entire time. AND, I still slowed down in the second half anyway. That's a tiring business! But it was fine. The route actually had a few hills anyway, which slowed me down (and made me more tired). I refilled my water bottle with a second water bottle I'd hidden in the grass at the point my friends stopped running, so I had plenty of hydration. But I think for my 20 miler I need another source of calories. I might need to bring some fig newtons again. Those are really dense and way yummier than Gu!
I think that's it! The race is less than 4 weeks away! Crazy.
The prattlings (if such a word could ever be used to describe what I do) of a mediocre yet obsessive runner.
4 comments:
VERY interesting!
Do you want some Performance? Calories and electrolytes but they don't need to be digested.
i am so excited! you're amazing, manda. i wonderr how people prepare for marathons in places like montana when the weather is almost never decent. do you eveer have any extreme weather? have you exercised in it? anyway, regardless, i am so impressed and proud of you!
Extreme weather in the California bay area? Never. BUT, there was a two week period a couple months ago where every run I did was in the rain. That wasn't very fun. The most extreme weather I've run in was a day we were in Utah when I was pregnant with Miles. It was a cold snap there and was about 20 degrees when I went in the afternoon. But I only ran 2 miles that day! I am actually really nervous to live somewhere else someday (relatively soon) because I am completely aware of how much what I do is possible because of our great weather here! I've promised myself I'll buy a treadmill if I live somewhere where the weather prohibits regular outdoor running. Although I did look up percentage of marathon runners by city and apparently Minneapolis, Minnesota is in the top 3, and that's a pretty cold place! Apparently it depends more on the type of people living in a place than on the weather. I was really surprised about that.
Way to go Manda! I can't imagine how tiring yet rewarding it must feel to run 18 miles. I have always wanted to do a marathon, but you have really inspired me. So after this baby and some recovery time, I hope to start training with Brian and run my first marathon next year. Keep up the awesome work and have fun!
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