Wooooohoooooo. I did it. This is the farthest I've ever run. Please don't remind me that it's nearly twice as far to finish a marathon. I'm still basking in the glory.
It was warm and humid again. Not hot, but definitely no snap in the air. At least it was overcast, so the sun wasn't beating down on us. I started out with Jim and Claudia and Chris, but I just wasn't feelin' it. I walked up a hill or two and felt really dejected. I caught up with them at a water stop (though at some point Chris went ahead, and I didn't see her after about mile 4), and ran the rest of it with them, on and off.
Everyone was having kind of a crummy run - bad chi on Dick Woods today, I guess. But we slogged through it together. We all kept apologizing for having to slow down or stop, but everyone was just waiting for someone else to cave so we could slow down, too. It took nearly three hours to complete it - THREE hours!! But I was in good company. Jim and Claudia were actually doing 13, so with 2 miles to go, I popped off down Plank Road for a half-mile.
Plank Road sucked.
It was one giant downhill, which meant one giant uphill on the way back. I didn't mind being alone - despite being tired and sore, I felt pretty chipper. With just 1/2 mile to go, a car pulled up alongside me - it was Claudia and Jim! Claudia had been hurting earlier, and with less than 1/2 mile to go, just couldn't go any more, so Jim ran back to the start, got his car and picked her up. They made sure to cruise out a little farther, to make sure I was still doing okay. A few minutes later, we all rendezvoused at the finish, and ate our Clif Bars. Everyone milling around had some complaint about something. We were a big bunch of whiners. But it was good to be done with it.
When I got home, the baby was napping, so I had time for a shower. I put it on as cold as I could stand it, and, for the first time ever, actually sat on the built-in seat. I had to sit down to take a shower. I felt cleansed from the inside out when I was done.
Even though that run was painful physically and mentally, it was a great confidence booster in a twisted way. That run sucked. It hurt. It was uncomfortable and NOT fun. But I did it.
One foot in front of the other.
1 comment:
I know EXACTLY what you mean about that feeling -- that's how I felt after my confidence-blowing 15 miler. It was so awful and sucky. . . but I finished it.
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