The Longest Yard (or Mile)

 

Today was the day.  I woke up at way too early o'clock to go running.  It wasn't just any run.  Today I was going to run 15 miles.  15 miles.....do you realize how far that is?  That's pretty far.  I mean, 15 miles is a long way.  It's longer than a half marathon, but shorter (way shorter) than a full.  No matter how you look at it, it's farther than I have ever gone before.

In order to make sure that I didn't give up and turn around and go home before the Garmin hit 15, I planned to meet my BRF (Best Running Friend) at the Dismal Swamp Canal Trail at just a little later than way too early (but, still too early for a lazy Sunday morning.)   Why the Dismal Swamp Canal Trail, you may be asking?  Well, because it's long.  We could go 7.5 miles towards North Carolina and then turn around and go 7.5 miles back.  (7.5+7.5 = 15).  There is no cheating.  There is no giving up.  There is no way to get off the trail. (Well, there is...but it's neither easy nor legal.) You start going and you have to get back from wherever you turn around.  It's that simple.  

So, I pulled into the deserted parking lot at 6am, watched an opossum run across the road while I was waiting for Kris to FLY up the road because she was a few minutes late.  We hit the porta potty at the head of the trail and off we went.  (Disclaimer - I went 1/2 mile before I realized that I didn't start the Garmin.  It started beeping at me and I couldn't figure out why.)

The run today was hard.  Kris is the only reason that I did it.  Without her, I would have turned around at a mile and called it a day.  We started with 3:1 intervals.  (She's trying to make me run longer.  She also makes me run faster...too faster, but we'll get to that.)  I kept it up for 5 miles.  That made me happy.  She has only ever gone 5 miles on the trail.   I've gone 6, but that last mile and a half from 6 to 7.5 when we turned around was pretty long.  I think it took us like 4 hours to go a mile and a half.  (That may be a slight exaggeration, but you get the idea.)  After 5 miles, I changed the intervals to 2:1, but I couldn't keep that for very long.  Something just didn't feel right....my legs were tight and my toes were rubbing in my socks.  

Somewhere along the line, I changed the intervals to 1:2.  That got me to about 13 miles.  After that, my legs just stopped moving me forward.  I really wanted to just sit down and let Kris figure out a way to come pick me up.  I have mentioned that there is a bear statue at the head of the trail.  You can start to see it with about a mile and a half to go.  I am here to tell you that the bear kept getting FARTHER away instead of closer.  We walked the last two miles.  I fought the legs and the legs won.  (I made it back to my car, so I guess, I won because I kept going.)

So, the run itself was a bit of a lowlight.  It was hard.  My legs hurt.  I was hot.  My tummy hurt a little.  I can't say it was a good run.  It just wasn't.

But there were some amazing highlights.  I watched the sun rise over the field when I was sitting in the parking lot.  Kris and I solved the world's problems during our time together.  (We really should be in charge of something important...we would be amazing.)  We saw our MRTT friends riding their bikes because they are training for a triathlon.  (There is NOTHING like a smiling face when you still having a LONG....LONG way to go.  The fact that I wanted to "borrow" that bike and ride on to the finish is completely beside the point.)  We also got some amazing support from a man in training for an Ironman who rode past us 3 times.  He really made me feel like a rockstar when he shouted encouragement.  We ran past a guy heading back to the start who was "only" running 10.  I was able to run a 10 minute mile late in the run when my legs were tired and I wanted to sit on the side of the road.  (See, she makes me run faster....too faster.)  There were NO bears out and about this morning.

I earned my shower today.  It was hard work getting out of my car and hobbling up the steps into the house.  I did some stretching, but I was pretty sure I would be miserable for the rest of the day.  Surprisingly, my legs are sore and a little tight, but not nearly as much as I was expecting.  

All in all, it was a great day.  After the run, I got to come home and get a shower in the piece and quiet.  My wonderful, supportive husband had taken the baby out and the big boys went golfing with their Grumpy.  When hubby and baby came home, we ran two computers up to my school classroom and then went out to lunch when the big boys got home.  We spent the rest of the day outside doing little odd jobs.  There is a glass of wine on the agenda for tonight.  (According to Kris and her Garmin, we burned enough calories for 3 BOTTLES of wine!!)

Looking forward to Zumba Monday to stretch my legs out!