Under the Sea

I did it! I rocked my 20 mile run yesterday. 20 miles (it still blows my mind). Granted, it was a slow shuffle but I did it. I have been run/walking (8 minutes run and 2 minutes walk), which has made running so much more enjoyable. It means I'm slower in the beginning BUT I'm more able to maintain a steady pace and have even passed people later in the run that started out harder than me (not that I'm competitive or anything). AND my knees didn't hurt at all (just my feet). It was awesome!!

The weather was perfect (not too hot and no rain). Our course was broken into 3 loops (an 11 miler, a 7 miler, and a 2 miler), which made the 20 miles a little easier to digest emotionally. I found my inner voice saying "ok, not a problem...this first loop you'll run 5.5 out - you can totally handle 5 miles and then you'll be heading back to the home aid station to get your 2nd loop, and then the 2nd loop is only 3.5 out, which is NO BIG DEAL. You've totally got this." And things started out great.

During the first mile, we ran down by the waterfront where the Doggie Dash was happening. Apparently "Under the Sea" from the Little Mermaid was being played on steel drums, which I have no memory of hearing. Oh, but don't worry, I ended up singing that song in my head for the next 3 miles and found myself completely baffled as to how I got it stuck in my head (it wasn't until hours later that my roommate explained that the song was being played at the park and that she had it stuck in her head too). And I just thought it was completely random - I'm definitely more susceptible to musical suggestions than I realized! :-)

By mile 11 and the start of the 2nd loop, my feet hurt. I think the pounding from running and plyometrics has taken its toll (plus I need to lose some lbs). It was all I could do to keep running. I hit "the wall" around mile 13-15. Those miles were the hardest because my feet hurt and I didn't want to keep running. I kept tensing my shoulders and swearing under my breath (I'm glad no one was near me), but eventually around 17 or 18, I was able to take my mind off of the pain and focus on the dwindling miles and keep going (I don't know if I was numb or what but I was able to think more positively). It was hard to imagine running another 6.2 miles when I finished with my 20 but it also didn't seem out of the question. The only bummer was the realization that I think this marathon will still be super slow (not as bad as my marathon time during the CDA Ironman BUT definitely not as good as I hoped for having not done any swimming or biking first). Oh well...I will get through it and still have a few more months before IM Canada to hopefully improve a little bit on my speed/endurance.

Overall, I give my experience a giant smile! I DID IT!! WOOT, WOOT!!!