TWENTY-ONE MILES

I am truly humbled.  If I had to walk away from this marathon right now, I would be okay. I would know that I could have done it, because I rocked my run today!  It was a gorgeous morning at a fabulous 55 degrees.  As I said in my earlier post, I was really looking forward to this run and it was as enjoyable as I hoped it would be. 

My nephew, Jon, was brave enough to run with me at 6AM in the brisk chill of darkness.  I think he could have speed walked and still kept up with me. He ran with the reflector vest and I ran with the headlamp.  He ran with me until it started getting light, about 3 ½ miles, then he turned back home.  It made those first few miles go quick. More importantly I felt safe having a tall man running with me. 

I credit 80% of this run to GU gels. I took those babies every 45 minutes.  They are a little bit of caffeine and electrolytes to fuel your body.  I don’t feel like a speed racer or anything. I just don’t hit the dreaded wall. I really liked my route too. It was a route that I knew and that I enjoyed.  It had variety and downhills.  Probably half of it was flat and half of it was downhill. 

As I was coming up on 17 ½ miles, I had my sister Deb, my niece Ashlyn, and my nephew Cole waiting to cheer me on.  I loved it.  Cole was there to ride the last 3 ½ miles with me.  He rode his bike alongside me. He was the motivation I needed to keep moving. He helped distract me when I started thinking about how hard it was.  It was fabulous to have my family support me today. I think this is when I needed them the most, thus far.  I’m just so thankful for them. 

The last mile….

My planned run was only supposed to be 20 miles, but I added 1 more mile to my route.  There are two reasons why I did 21.  First, a friend who is also training for a marathon, did 23 miles last week.  She said it gave her the confidence she needed to know she could finish 26.2 miles.  Second, after my last planned 20 didn’t go so well, I really needed to prove it to myself that I could do a long run.  It all had to do with the mental game.  So many training plans go to 20.  Rumor is that when actually running a marathon, the first 20 are doable, it’s the last 6.2 that make it a marathon.  I think I wanted to know that I could see over that wall that separates 20 and 6.2.  I wanted to know that I could go past 20.  I know that I can do 5.2 more miles than I did today.  I’m not saying it’s going to be plush or even good conditions like today, but I can and will do it. 

Just knowing that makes me so grateful.  Running 21 miles is amazing. That in and of itself, is a huge accomplishment. I am ecstatic that I did it but at the same time I just keep shaking my head. I can’t believe I did it.  I’m blessed, I’m humbled, I’m grateful.  (Not so much for the chaffing burns, but still grateful, nonetheless.)

ROCK ON, RUN ON!!!