Most people train to run a marathon. They build their base, start increasing their long runs and then when marathon day hits they run the furthest they've run at 26.2 miles. I skipped that. My previous long run was 20 miles. I was supposed to run 21, but had to pull up short (see previous blog post). Then I was scheduled to run 24 miles, however I was in South Beach for a Bachelorette party, and while I got a 12 miler in, it wasn't even close to 24 miles. But, training must go on. So, on Monday, May 12th, 2014, in the light rain, I left the office early and went for a casual 27.2 mile run. Skipped the marathon and just went for a 27 miler. No big deal, I mean that's pretty normal.
So, I started with my fellow runner KP as we ran two miles from the office to our apartment where we picked up Hubey. From there we ran back to campus to drop off KP, then continued on to Kasota via bus farm. We looped around and headed back to campus after 15.2 miles for a feed. Yes, our first feed mid-run! We are finally at the point in training where we need to get accustomed to consuming gels, liquid, and bars and then heading back out to run without having time to digest.
After a 20 minute break where we changed clothes, since it had been raining the entire run, we headed back out for another 12. We planned an out and back towards Ottawa. A couple miles down the road Hubey felt a bit light headed so we had to stop for a moment. It was actually quite a sight to see as he was squatting down on the side of the road and I was frantically taking off my clothes because it had stopped raining and thus the long sleeve under my tshirt was completely and utterly unnecessary. We walked for the next couple of minutes until Hubey felt better then continued on. This is where things got weird.
Runners are a strange breed. They are different. They think up strange and unusual stories, sayings, rituals...whatever you would like to call them in order to keep them entertained during their long runs. They sing songs. They talk about penguins. They spend so much time either by themselves or with each other that they have no other choice. I had yet to get to that point. I heard Hubey talk about this "state", he told me stories, talked about songs they sang, yada yada yada but I had never actually gotten to that point...until this run. When we were six miles out on our final leg of the run, we started singing, at the top of our lungs mind you, "WHOAHHH WE'RE HALF WAY THERE, WHOAHHH LIVING ON A PRAYER, TAKE MY HAND WE WILL MAKE IT I SWEAR, WHOAHHH OH LIVING ON A PRAYER." We alternated lines. We repeated it multiple times. It was fantastic.
Then, once we turned around and started heading back to campus I realized, and exclaimed out loud over and over and over and over and over... "this is the furthest I've ever run... nope, this is the furthest I've ever run... nope, this is the furthest I've ever run..." This commentary continued for a good couple of minutes. Then Hubey started to tell me stories and I would chime in a say, "you know what?!?!" He was say, "what?!?!" and I would respond, "this is the furthest I've ever run...this is the furthest I've ever run..." Also at this point, I started to slow down, so in hopes to get me to pick up my pace, Hubey ran a good 15 yards in front of me so a couple miles, still chatting the entire time though. It worked...slightly.
Once we hit 26.2 miles we high fived. Boom first ever marathon done. But we were still a mile away from campus with one large hill in the way. I will admit, although it hurts my soul, I became a little dog and walked up the large hill before finishing the run with a smile on my face. There you go, I skipped the marathon and ran 27.2 miles. On to the next accomplishment.
No comments:
Post a Comment