In a nutshell, lets just say I'm glad I registered for the marathon a few weeks ago. If I still had yet to do it, I might be hard to convince after yesterday's run.
It was bad.
And I don't mean bad like I normally mean bad. This time I'm for real.
My dad met me at the lake at 6:30am sharp to begin our long run. He's up to 6 miles in his half marathon training plan so he planned to run the first 6 with me and then I would carry on with the remainder of my run. To my surprise, my future brother-in-law was tagging along behind him.
"I'm going to run with you today, Kate!"
"Oh, gee. That's great," I said.
"How far ya going?"
"17 and dad's doing 6," I said this sort of thinking he'd finish with my dad after 6 miles.
"Cool, I'll do the 17 with you."
Now, I'll admit that I laughed at him because the idea that anyone could wake up one morning and just decide willy nilly to run 17 miles is completely beyond my abilities of comprehension. After all, I've been working months. Months. MONTHS! to get this far.
We started slow, about 1:30 slower than my/dad's comfortable pace. Even at 6.30 in the morning, it was already in the low 80's and humid. Dad made it to six and we dropped him off at his car. At 7, I was struggling pretty hard. Mentally, I was tanked. This always happens in the humidity for some reason. I just fall apart. Physically I felt fine but my mind was toast. I was so pissed at myself because the 15-er a few weeks ago couldn't have gone any better and here I was completely done in at only 7 miles.
I told the future BIL that he could bugger off any time he wanted because this was about to get very ugly. But NO! He wanted to keep going (of course he did) and he was perfectly fine, had hardly even broken a sweat. The kid is in shape, I'll give him that, but he could probably power walk faster than I was running and at one point he said, "Maybe if I feel like it that day I'll run the marathon with you." I tried to strangle him then but he sprinted off and I couldn't catch him. He's one of those people that are just naturally fast where, even on my very best day, I'll never even come close. Not an ideal running partner for me, especially when I'm out there for many many many hours.
The last 6 miles were terrible. Lots of walking and complaining. We ran out of water which didn't help and at one point I think I was down on my hands and knees laughing hysterically but I can't be sure, it's all kind of fuzzy.
I don't really remember finishing but I know I did, the Garmin says so. It also says my pace which I quickly deleted (I think one of the miles clocked in at about 25:00, good grief, this is probably the one when I was on my hands and knees laughing) because I don't want the reminder.
My only consolation from yesterday is that I feel fine today and the future BIL was hobbling around in church this morning.
10 comments:
Congrats on finishing 17! You are doing things right and you will be ready for your marathon... even if you have to crawl across the finish line on your hands and knees laughing...
I had a terrible training run with 13. It was a hot, humid day, like the one you experienced. And you know what? Yesterday I ran 15, and it felt great. Maybe you just had a really tough run. The important thing is that you toughed it out and finshed.
I LOVED this post. Especially the parts about being on your hands and knees laughing, and about the cocky BIL hobbling around in church.
Just wait until you officially finish the full 26.2, then all of this will be worth it. You are doing awesome, and the weather is bound to turn for the better any day now so hang in there.
My 15 miler two weeks ago was like your 17 miler. So I can sympathize with you. Gotta love the fuzzy moments...lol
Only 54 more days to go...someone tell me quick "why do we do this?"
Hang in there, next week will be a better run.
That's one of the mysteries about running--to reach the same point of a run or a race where in the past you've felt awesome, and today it feels horrible.
Makes you want to ask what's the point if I can't predictably feel good today since I did in the past.
I have a friend who can run a marathon at the drop of a hat. Makes me jealous and angry at the same time. No matter how it felt, you did it. What makes it more special is that you did it in crappy weather and probably a bit of stress with your unplanned training partner. Don't underestimate what stress can do on your running.
Amy
http://blog.runnerslounge.com
I have had a few like this too, I lovingly refer to them as my debacles. You finished, you are awesome, all of this is prep for the big event.
The weather changed here alittle and it was heavenly -- you will be like WonderWoman after the humidity goes down because you have made yourself suffer through it.
Glad you felt good that day after. Keep it up!!
Keep pressing toward the finish line Kate. You are going to do fine on your marathon. You are training properly and you have a heart for it. Those two things will get you through.
I enjoy your blog. Reading it keeps me motivated in my training. Thanks for being transparent and authentic in it. the blogosphere needs that.
Know that you are loved,
gaj
What a great post! The great part is that you did it and survived to tell us about it. Congrats.
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