20 Miler

The 20 miler was Saturday, Sept. 30th. It was slow and not that easy. I was grumpy, very grumpy, the last 4 miles or so. Now, with time, I realize that hunger was to blame. In reality my recovery was quick and managed to go out for a run later in the week. I was in better shape after 20 miles than when I first ran 8. That got me thinking how much things have changed over these past 4 - 5 months. Regardless of my rationalizations, I was able to write down my initial reaction to the 20 miler...

"How was the run?" I was asked... "It SUCKED!" was my direct, emotional reply. Humans are not meant to run these distances, at least not this human.

Mile 16: I started wondering "and WHY am I doing this???"
Mile 18: I began rationalizing why I'll only run the 1/2 marathon on race day
Mile 20: This is #^*!#%& stupid!

In reality, all was not bad. In fact the first 15 miles went well. I ran with another woman for part of the time and really enjoyed the company and the challenge of keeping a quicker pace. I walked with some of the folks from the Sunday walk group, it was good to see them too.

Admittedly, I was cranky about the route: running around the Charles twice is like running around in circles going no where - very, very slowly: 5 hours 1 minute. First time okay - 2nd time? Ugh, I'd rather be exploring or seeing a new location.

After 5 hours and 1 minute of running (no, I was NOT the last one in) Lenny and I went to Red Bones and ordered the "all you can eat ribs". Let's just say I got my money's worth! I didn't realize how hungry I was and decided that for race day a pocket full of pretzel sticks would solve the cranky hunger problem - hopefully.

I've been STRONGLY advised to take extra care of myself between now and race day: eat healthfully and get plenty of sleep. The runs now taper hopefully leaving me time for the other parts of my life!