Yesterday was our 16 mile run! We met at Vernon Worthen Park this time, so that we wouldn't have to start up the Veyo hill to begin our run! Right as we are getting ready to leave the park, I realize that I left my iPod at home! I was SO MAD at myself for doing that. I had no time to go and get it so, this 16 miler was going to be VERY STRANGE without music in my ears!
The drive up was interesting/funny, well at the least the first little bit. We start out going and I ran a stop sign and missed a turn, all within about a minute! I was hoping it wasn't an indication of how the rest of the morning would go, ha ha! Then, as we're driving up the highway, I keep seeing red and blue flashing lights. We all thought it was a cop! However, the lights would stop and then a few minutes later it happened again! My stomach was up in my throat! Then, I realized that Connor and Rylie's lunch boxes were in the very back, and they had lights that go off if you shake the lunch box! So, no cop, just lunch boxes.
We started our run and it was pitch dark! It was so weird running without music. I was nervous about hearing coyote's or other weird noises. The first 1/2 mile went fine, running well but, all of a sudden my shins went into a tight, extreme, horrid pain!!!! It was AWFUL! I had to stop running and try to stretch my leg out. No luck. So for another 2 miles I tried to walk it off. It was HORRIBLE! I cried and cried and didn't know what to do. I couldn't stop because how was I going to get home? Turning around, and going back to my car was NOT an option for me. So, I just walked as fast as I could stand. So, I had to do that for almost 3 miles, before the pain finally subsided and I could begin jogging again. The first few miles of leg pain really put me on the slow track. I like to at least get 5 miles in each hour. The first hour I was BARELY able to get 4 miles in. I had A LOT of distance to make up, if I wanted to stay on track. I did my best and I did well the 2nd hour of my run. I actually got 5.12 miles in on the 2nd hour. So, I was at 9.12 miles at this point and was feeling good. We had had a water/gatorade drop at mile 4 and mile 8. Unfortunately, when I got to the 8 mile drop, my water was nowhere to be found, and my handheld water bottle was empty. Well, around mile 10, there's an area of the road where there's a big space on the side of the road to park cars, or whatever. Here comes Joel, the man who manages where we live, and he has a cookie sheet full of cut-up fruit. There were peaches, oranges, apples, bananas, and even watermelon! For some reason he keeps calling me Lauren, ha ha! Anyway, he says, "Hello Lauren! I'm so proud of you! You're doing it! Come stop and have some fruit!" I took advantage of that and had THE BEST peach! Then, he says, "Do you need some water? I have an extra bottle!" He was heaven sent! So, I filled up my water bottle, drank the extra, and was on my way. I felt refueled and excited! So, down the road I continued. Mile 11.5 came and I started to really feel the impact of NOT having any music in my ear. I was bored and the thoughts of how hard this was, how much further I had to go, etc. started flooding my mind and I started slowing a bit. My foot had had a blister, previous to the run, and at this point I'm pretty sure is when it popped. It was BURNING and hurt a lot. So, on I kept going.
On our usual long runs, we end at the church that's just past the intersection of Snow Canyon Pkwy/Bluff St. (Hwy 18). However, because of ending at the park, we ran past that church. Last week my group did the run to the park but, I was out of town and didn't do the run. So, for me, it was mentally hard to see all the other runners stopping at the church and being done with their run. For me, I still had almost 3 miles to go. That bummed me out. After mile 14 I really felt done. I was in tears and had had it!
This run was nearly a 4 hour run! Sheesh, that sounds crazy saying that!!!! However, it didn't defeat me and I'm still ready to keep moving forward and to keep pushing! This run was fun in a lot of ways too! There was a lot of runners out on the highway, and such a great man of them! I'd say 99% of them would say hello, shout encouraging words, even ask where I was from, how far I was going, and were just so friendly! I even met up with a group who were going the pace I was and that was a lot of fun! I met a mother-daughter pair running and they were SO GREAT!!!!
I feel like I'm getting a handle on my re-fueling process during my runs! I've been really working on doing better and drinking and hydrating better. The last 5 or 6 long runs I've noticed I haven't been having the stomach issues I usually get between mile 6-9! I still am getting hungry around mile 10 so, I am going to try taking little packets of peanut butter to try and fill that hunger.
Cheryl did an AWESOME thing for me, well, all of us! Amber had to be back home asap for things they had planned for that day. So, she couldn't wait around for me to finish my run. I also felt bad having to have Jocelyn waiting around, especially since she had a babysitter with her girls. So, I talked to Cheryl and Cheryl agreed to meeting up with me, after I finished my run, and taking me back up the highway to pick up my car. That way the other girls weren't waiting on me and it took a lot of pressure off me.
Nancy did an awesome thing for me too! Mike is out of town and I was EXHAUSTED and hurting so, she let Connor and Rylie go over to her house and play with Preston so that I could get a much-needed nap in while Corie was taking a nap! I have THE BEST of friends!!!!!
8 weeks exactly, from yesterday, is the St. George Marathon. I'm still nervous and scared to death but, at the same time, I'm SO EXCITED and just feeling like I just want to do it! The training is tough sometimes and really wears me out but, I know it is really helping and definitely preparing me for the marathon. I'm looking forward to next week, when we'll only have run 12 miles. I laugh that I say ONLY 12 miles! I never, ever thought, that in a million years, that I'd be thinking 12 miles was a break for me.
I'm EXTREMELY sore and stiff from yesterday's run! Oh I hurt! I have to waddle/limp my way around and that gets SO EXHAUSTING! I can only imagine what I'll be like the day of and after the marathon, ha ha! It's amazing to me to think I did a 1/2 marathon a month ago, and that since then, I've gone 3 miles past that. And, I physically felt SO MUCH better after the 16 miles, than I did the 1/2 marathon. That's encouraging!
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