Group run...............................

Having wanted to do my long run on Friday (unable to because (my) Mister pulled a muscle and couldn't transfer one of our OPs), I was worrying about fitting it in on Saturday. Don't worry about the Mister, he will be fine. Had he been continuing to do his exercise program it would never have happen so he gets only minimum sympathy instead of boat loads. Saturday (my) Mister and youngest went to get their hair cut first and then it was my turn and I was taking a resident with me to get a perm (my in-house hair dresser can't do them here because one of our resident's can't handle any kind of strong odor). This definitely made any early morning run out of the question. It is lots cooler outside now, but was it cool enough to run for four something hours straight? I was about to find out.

The plan was for my youngest to be here to take care of the OPs, and I had her BF come over to help with any overflow needs. Normally she works for me and I pay her (community) college tuition, but when I went to get my hair done, the hairdresser was telling me about the products the youngest wanted but wouldn't buy because she is keeping a tight hold on her funds until she builds up her emergency fund. Sometimes I think she should get a FOURTH job teaching teens how to handle money. She is so good at it, and most of her friends could really use the advice since they are still living totally off mom and dad. We don't charge her room or board for continuing to live with us, but we also don't give her money for anything else (except I will sneak an occasional pair of clearance shoes into her closet, as according to the two of us shoes go under room and board because they are a life essentials). What does this have to do with my run?

I picked up the thirty dollars worth of products for her and slipped the BF forty bucks (he did some lawn work why he was here too), so my run cost me seventy bucks. It was so worth it to get out and get it over with so I had Sunday to rest. My hairdresser is so good that we were out of there in just under an hour and a half. I was home and ready to run by 1:30 PM. I actually got going a bit closer to 2:00, because I kept coming back for things. A towel, ace wrap in case the ankle acted up, ibuprofen 800 for the feet/ankle/knees. The last time I came back I was beginning to wonder if these were stall tactics? My youngest said, "Hey mom. Did ___(the oldest) call you on your cell phone?" Nope. "Well she did her twenty miles today and she was telling me what a great sister I was and all this stuff and then she said, "Being out there that long gives you lots of time to think about things. I guess I'm just being emotional."

Hearing that little message from her was just what I needed to send me off on a high note. She is doing all this hard marathon training for one reason, to support me and make me happy. Yes, she loves me that much.

Even though I run slower when I listen to talk radio while I run I started out with it playing in my ear buds. I like to listen to "This American Life" which is a group of stories centered on one theme. The theme for the first group was, "Something for nothing." As in, "Is anything really free?" The lead in was talking to some dude that played the lotto, trying to hit it big. When ask how much he thought he spent in a year his reply was three to four thousand dollars a year! What's free about that the narrator ask him.

The first story was about the contest in which several people begin placing their hands on a brand new truck (or car) and the last one left standing wins the vehicle. You've heard about this right? The interview was with the guy that won and as the hours went on, and more people dropped out, he talked about having to want something bad enough to work through the pain, numbness, and desire to quit. He talked about having hallucinations while standing by that truck, how he played his competitors to get them to drop out, and how he could tell when his opponents began to lose control of reality and (in his words) go insane.

As I listened to the show there were so many parallels that I could see with this marathon training, and definitely with training for those ultra distance races. The hour show was an enjoyable way to spend the first five miles.

If you read these posts regularly you know that mile seven seems to be my golden mile. The one in which I get inspiration. Today was no different. I have begun to think about how I am going to dress for the marathon. Early morning in late October in MI could be any kind of weather. I know once I get going I will warm up but do I want to be shivering during the line-up, or toss clothes on the side a few miles in? I think I will plan wearing my number on my leg (and have actually been practicing this) as the rules are VERY insistent that the bib number be visible at all times due to the fact that it is an international race and tight security since 911. If I toss I still have to take them off with as little effort as possible so this is what I came up with during mile seven: I can take a long sleeve running shirt, take the sleeves off at the seams, and take apart the shoulder seams. I can put the shoulder seams back together with Velcro, and put some soft elastic in the top of the arms to hold them up. If I want to lose them along the way a tug or two and it is off. Sound like it could work great doesn't it. Of course I will try it out before race day. I am also in the process of designing my own running shorts, ones that don't bunch up between my thighs and have pockets in front rather than at the back waist.

I always have a little lag around mile 8 or nine, and again at this particular route (I only did it once before) I was checking my time, thinking I was worse than snails pace, rounding the corner and catching a glimpse of the stop sign that signaled ten miles. I was only about seven minutes slower than I had done my last ten (at the Crim), so this jazzed me up again. Miles eleven and twelve are done on a kinda busy road, so I run on the side/stones a lot. By the time I turned off my feet were hurting so this made me think of my new running buddy, Nanc. I took strength from the way she has been bravely working through her foot pain, while continuing to train towards her goals. No matter how busy she is (Full time mom and full time job with travel is pretty darn busy. When you through in training for a marathon...) she ALWAYS takes time to leave a comment on a new posts, and is always supportive and encouraging. I don't think she can know how much this has helped my training, and what a big part she is playing in my making it to the end of this goal/dream. Thanks Nanc.

Mile thirteen I was just plain giddy. I had slowed down to pretty slow, the knees were bothering me just a tad, and I needed a little joy to keep me going. This brought Kate to mind. I kept picturing her description of one run in which "she might have at one point been down on her hands and knees laughing hysterically, but couldn't be sure as it was all a bit fuzzy." This would make me laugh hysterically, but sorry Kate, I refused to fall down on all fours as I knew I would never be able to make myself get back up.

I was well into mile fourteen when it occurred to me that I kept replaying what I planned to have for dinner if I ever made it home (we were at three plus hours by now, and it WAS dinner time). What is up with that? I normally don't think about food while I run. Then it occurred to me that the only thing I had eaten that day was about 1.5 ounces of fresh mozzarella, my morning coffee, and a couple bottles of water. Since I normally do my long runs in the morning I don't worrying about eating before a run. Fortunately for me I had a pack full of food so stopped for a walk/food break at 15.5 miles.

I had also finished all my fluids. I didn't take the time to hide them and ran out just before the last hiding stop which tells me I am understanding when and how much fluid I need/take in on any given run. Being waterless reminded me of Randoms brush with dehydration, not pretty but a great learning experience for her. Fortunately for me mile sixteen is through the East end of our small town so I stopped at the ice cream shoppe, filled up my eight ounce Gatorade bottle a couple of time to drink and then once more to carry.

The last four miles were uneventful is you discount the fact that by this time I was moving so slow one of my neighbors commented on my "shuffling along," and I couldn't get out of the way of a passing lawnmower fast enough to avoid being covered in tiny specs of grass clippings and dirt. Nothing got in my eyes so no harm done.

While the completion of the second twenty miles (4:28:something) did not hold the excitement of the first, it was still mighty rewarding. As I was walking the last few yards to my house I had the thought that six more miles seems like a lot more to have to add to the full marathon distance, but I will take on that challenge when I get to it. With the love and support of my family and all my new running buddies there ain't nothing I can't accomplish. Thanks everyone for sharing the things you are learning so I might benefit from them as well. They are more helpful than you will ever know.