The saying goes, "close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades." Or something to that effect. Well, I also believe that when running any mileage over 17, close works with running as well.
This weekend was the Big One (20mi). One of them anyway, I have three Big One's planned for this training cycle. Saturday started off beautiful! The sun was shining, the wind was low, the temps were in the mid 40's. I got up early and had my bagel with peanut butter, cup of coffee and 16oz of water. For some reason I was feeling nervous. I haven't run this far in 1.5years! As I headed up to Peabody I was praying that I would have enough strength, both mental and physical, to run that far...it is FAR.
As I pulled up to my friend's house, she was there waiting. Turns out her plans had changed and she was able to run the first 8-9mi with me! That was a huge boost. We headed out of Peabody into Salem with the sun on our faces and the wind at our backs. It was a beautiful day! We made our way out of Salem and into Marblehead, past the beach and around the neck. This is where I said goodbye to Kirsten. She needed to head home, I needed to do the neck loop (about 2mi) two more times.
One note about the running along the ocean: WIND. Especially when your up on a cliff of sorts. Running uphill into the gusts is challenging...but good training, I know. The first loop we did was tough, the second was a bit better and the third was great because I knew that I was over half way finished and I couldn't wait to begin the return trip to Peabody.
I made it back into Salem without too much trouble...I was not in pain at all. Just feeling tired and thirsty. So I stopped and picked up a Gatorade at a Dunkin' Donuts and tried to hold it while running. Unfortunately at this point, the wind had picked up, the sun had gone behind ominous looking clouds and the temp had dropped 5-7deg. My shirt was wet (I'm a sweat-er, okay?!) so tucking my hands into my sleeves wasn't an option...that made them even colder! So I chugged my drink and got rid of the bottle. Instead of tacking on another little loop, I knew I just needed to head back to the car, I just couldn't finish. I felt kind of bad because I didn't think I made it the full distance. Probably only 18 or so.
After getting home, I checked it out on Google Pedometer: 19.53mi!!! A full 1.5mi more than I thought! And friends, 19.53 is so close to 20, we're going to call it: 20mi. I did it. I surprised myself and felt very accomplished. The best part is that I wasn't that sore...I mean, I was tired and my body just wanted to rest but I didn't hurt. Sore is one thing, hurt is quite another. For the record my pace was 10:23min/mi. Not to shabby for 20mi...
The rest of the weekend was just as great as my run! After the ominous clouds blew away, the sun came out again and the temp went back up. The bf and I decided to take a little drive up to Halibut State Park for a walk and delightful views of the ocean. Sunday was also gorgeous (but windy!!!) so I took a nice quick walk around the lake to keep the legs loose. A great weekend all around!
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