Day 70

I survived (barely).

This morning was my 18 mile long run. Bathroom update: 2 trips before the run. The plan was to do a 10 mile loop followed by two 4 mile loops. Alyssa joined Andy and I for the first 10... it seemed harder than I thought it should've. There was nothing in particular that felt wrong - even my knee was alright - but my body just felt tired. I wanted to do a longer loop in hopes to practice running longer without so many breaks, but that didn't really happen. We stopped at a coffee shop after 3.5 miles for a bathroom break (not me) and more water (me). Then we stopped at mile 5 for gel pack #1 (I had vanilla). Alyssa tried her first gel... she took it like a champ!

Alys <3 PB gu

We pretty much finished the rest of the 10 miles without a break, only stopping for traffic lights. Back at the club we took kind of a long break - said goodbye to Alyssa, ate another gel (chocolate cherry with double caffeine), and then said hello to Sarah! I was dreading running another 8 miles - I honestly didn't know if my body could do it - so having Sarah's company for 4 miles was a big help. Even though it was only 4 miles, I still had to stop in the middle for a little break.

14 down, 4 to go

Thank you Alyssa and Sarah for being my running support team!

By the time we got back to the club, Andy started getting nervous that he wouldn't have time to run 4 more miles and make it to the auditions he had to listen to in time (at least without rushing like crazy). We talked about a few options for a bit, and eventually decided that I would run home (it is exactly 4 miles) and he would end early so that he could get cleaned up. I definitely think he made the right decision, and his 14 mile run was fantastic. He's so fast!

I visited Katie at the front desk before heading out for my last 4 miles - that made that break ridiculously long. I really need to practice doing these runs without such long breaks. Anyway, I was on my own for the last 4... it was good practice because I really had to dig deep. At first I thought I could make it home without another gel, but around 15.75 I started feeling really foggy, so I stopped and took my third gel (chocolate - very tasty). I'm so glad I did that because my head cleared up pretty fast - it was just a matter of keeping my legs moving. My last 4 miles were pretty slow (around a 10:45 pace), and I'm sure my form was shot - I felt like I was stomping - but eventually I made it all 18. It was really hard. My entire body was so tired, and my back especially hurt. I have no idea how I will run even farther, but I just have to trust the training process and not skip anymore runs during the week if I can help it.

18 miles and not a step more

My earlier miles were fast enough that they made up for those last slow 4. I am floored I averaged a 10:15 pace. And I also can't believe I ran for over 3 hours. That's a long time - no wonder I was dying to sit down!

I was definitely wiped out when I was done - I showered and then laid on the couch for awhile. Eventually I got enough energy to walk around the Greentopia Festival that is happening in our neck of the woods, but I was walking sloooowly and thankfully it wasn't a big festival at all. :-)

Now it's time to make some mashed potatoes. I started craving them at mile 17 and haven't stopped thinking about them since! The only two other items I've ever craved during a long run were milk and diet Dr. Pepper.  Long run cravings are bizarre.

Total Miles Run: 226.11
Total Weight Change: -6.4