So I keep seeing the commercial with Ryan Hall goes out on a run and brings his phone and listens to The Odyssey on the kindle app or whatever it is. If you haven’t seen it I put the link to it in you tube.
Needless to say that’s the way I felt about my 19.2 mile run last Friday morning. It was a 2 hour and 55 minute journey of highs and lows and laughs and chills and thoughts. No tears which was good. It started out at 6:30 am and it was drizzling with severe thunderstorms in the forecast. I was nervous but ready for the task at hand. It was my first long run I was going to be doing myself, without my marathon training buddy, Erica.
I planned out my route the night before and decided on a loop around my neighborhood which is about 6 miles followed by a run along the river extending my usual thursday night 8.5 mile run into 12+ miles. In a previous 16 mile run with Erica we started with 6 miles and then took a much-needed bathroom break then finished the with the rest fo the 10 without a hitch, so I thought this planned seemed good.
Well the first 6 miles are very rolling hills so that started my out in a bit of a funk and it drizzled the whole time. I was also nervous about running outside by myself for 3 hours so I kept thinking that everyone that passed me was a kidnapper or serial killer. Especially the grown man who drove past me on a full on tricycle. It was weird to say the least. I got back to my house and ate my Larabar , and went to the bathroom and then grabbed my Nike handheld water bottle and got on the road again. I thought about just doing two more loops of what I just did so I could pass the house again if I needed to but decided to stick with the plans and cuz heading out and back for 12 would be better and be more motivation for me not to stop.
Product plug here, I love my Nike handheld water bottle . I really think it’s the only way I could carry water. You don’t really have to grip the bottle cuz you can adjust the strap that goes around your hand to make it tight enough to fit without falling off. The only complaint I have is that on hot days the water gets warm. But that would happen with any bottle I assume. It’s nice cuz it has a little pouch you can put keys or snacks in too. I put my almond butter in it, but more about that later.
So my run was going as planned. I ende dup out about 5.5 miles before I got to unfamiliar territory and decided to head back towards the house. I figured I would tally up to about 16 miles by the time I was back by the house then could run a quick 3-4 mile loop around the neighborhood. The out and back that I do is along a main road so I was much less nervous about people attacking me and no one seeing. And there was many more people to look at which helps pass the time.
As I mentioned I have been experimenting with fuel and Paleo/gluten-free alternatives to traditional gu and carbo rich quick energy supplements. I hate Gu to begin with and it wrecks my stomach. I read a blog somewhere that recommended packets of peanut butter and upon a trip at whole foods I found these individual packets of Justin’s Almond Butter
I can only imagine what I looked like eating this. I had put it in the zipper pocket of my water bottle before I went out for the run this morning so I would not forget it when I grabbed my water bottle. So it had apparently hardened a bit. And somehow ever after 8-9 mile outside running it was still slightly thicker than usual. And it being chocolate flavored, it was dark brown. I prob looking like a sweaty disgusting mess eating poop. I know it was all over my face. Cars were probably passing thinking “hey that girls eating poo!” haha but seriously soooo tasty, and didn’t hurt my stomach at all, and brought me back to life after I have 14ish miles under my belt. I just bought 6 more packets last night at Whole Foods. Erica will think I’m nuts when I bust one out this saturday.
So the end of my run, aka the last two miles were brutal. I had gotten the chills at this point I assume just from running for so long and the craziness of it all, so my legs felt very jello-y. The didn’t hurt which was good but they didn’t feel right either, and I kept thinking if my legs buckle underneath me and I eat pavement I will be mortified. I had to take some walk breaks at this point because I was kind of concerned but overall still felt 80% great. I desperately needed some water with about 1.5 miles to go and like a mirage in the desert I cam off the high school property and saw a house with an irrigation sprinkler that was on. Yes, I filled my water bottle about halfway with water from that sprinkler. It was exactly what I needed to get me back home.
When I got home I was in complete aww of what I just did. I didn’t honestly think I would be able to run 19 miles all on my own. Having that other person there to hold yourself accountable really does help more than you know. But I did it and I really felt great. nothing hurt too bad at the end. I did get two blisters on both of my heels, I think my socks kept sliding down. I am really thinking about getting tall compression socks, like these Pro Compression Marathon socks. But I’m not sure I could stand the idea of running with full on knee socks, but I would like to try. That would definitely stop the heel blisters.
All in all it was quite the successful Friday and I am looking forward to just a mere 16 this weekend hahaha. I will keep this updated more on the progress of my training.
harndt
JVK
sievelsg
Muck Ruckers 