20 miles.....26.2

Today I set out for my 20 miler.. I felt good, in fact I felt so good that I ended up doing a whole 26.2 miles.  I know what your thinking.  This girl is crazy!  Hear me out, I am running with my sister's in June, we know this.  I have promised my sister Heather that I am going to stick by her side and get her through her first marathon.  Saying that in a way stressed me out, here I was promising her that I would get her through it when I was not even sure if I could do it myself??  It has been a year since my last marathon and I just wasn't sure that I could hold through.  The self doubting was hitting me hard.  I wanted to remember what it felt like to go that far.  I wanted to feel the pain and tiredness in my legs.  So because I was feeling good, I went for it!  Let me break it down for you....

This was me before, I didn't know then what I was in for but I was happy to do my 20 as intended. I wanted to keep and even and steady pace the whole time.  Not jump up and down on my watch so it was pretty important for me to just take it easy.  Not too fast and not too slow.  I had my first GU around 5.6 miles.  I didn't have water with me.  This was going to be my challenge.  Finding WORKING drinking fountains.  I did find some but not enough.  Around mile 19 I bought and Gatorade and carried it to mile 24.  It was heavy and annoying but really helpful in those last few miles.

As I was running up the west side highway, it was so beautiful and it was during that time that I decided to just run 13.1 instead of the 10 and turning around.  I figured I could get to the George Washington Bridge, I pretty much did.  Once I got there I stopped, stretched a little and had my second GU. After that I turned around and headed back.  The scenery was beautiful.

 

This was my time when I stopped my watch at the half way point.  I tried to keep my watch going but did stop it a few times when I had to wait for lots cars or if I needed to stretch more than 30 secs.  I had my third GU around mile 15.5.  I was thirsty.  I really could have used more water. I didn't want to wait to long to take my GUs so I just ate them and waited for the drink later.  I have decided after this I am going to buy one of those water bottles that attaches to your hand.  They are smaller and not as heavy.  Way better. 

I was really important to me that I didn't hit a wall, so I kept my positive thinking going.  I kept saying you are doing this for Heather.  So when you run with her you don't keel over!  I was also doing it for myself, I love running.  I love having personal accomplishments.  It makes me feel so good!  Plus I was thinking this is great prep for your Ultra!

This is me at the end!  I made Scott come down and take a picture of me and also bring me water.  I was thirsty!  Of course I didn't tell him that I listened to music for about 24 miles.  He would have been like "Your Ears!!!" "You are going to lose your hearing you know!"  Hehe... I have been running with out music lately but today I was really enjoying it.  It was cool outside too so I didn't get too hot. It just felt really nice.

So a short breakdown...  Felt good for the first 15-16 miles, started to get tired after that but still ok.  About mile 22 I was really tired and ready to be done.  Mile 25, super annoying because I had to run up and over the bridge to get home!  I mean really lame, I could have used a flat surface.  That would have been great.  Mile 26 ready to be done and would have picked up more speed but like I was saying before, I was trying to keep an even pace. The last quarter of a mile I just kicked into high gear and made it home.

Woohoo!  I was so proud of myself.  Here is a little fun fact.  It is true that runner's are crazy.  The more you run, the crazier you are.  I could almost sit back and watch myself get more crazy by the day.  Getting up to run 26.2 miles just to see if you can do it and also knowing that you are doing it again in 7 weeks....that's crazy talk.  And I know this is only just the beginning!

Yum for my treat after!  All you NYC marathons coming this fall.  Van Leeuwen's ice cream!  It doesn't get much better than that.

Do you ever feel the urge to just run the 26.2 miles? 

What do you like to eat after a good hard workout?

Do you listen to music while you run/workout?

Happy Running to All!!

XX
Sarah