20 miles! Now that's hardcore...

This blog has chronicled many firsts for me in my marathon training & fundraising experience with Team in Training. And this post will detail my 20 mile run yesterday. That's right, I did it!!

I was blessed enough to be able to take off work early yesterday to meet some TNT peeps at Lake Zorinsky in Omaha. I ran with two people for the first part (yay, Gabe, another WDW marathoner & his co-worker Rebecca), then they went about their day and two others joined (hooray for EJ, who's running the Goofy race at WDW--a half marathon Saturday and a full marathon Sunday) and Heather (who's running Phoenix in mid-January). For some reason, a song from the movie School of Rock was in my head. We got to laughing about the lyrics..."You know you're not hardcore...unless you live hardcore." EJ, Heather and I decided that there was nothing more hardcore than what we were doing. :)

Bless EJ's heart...he brought along a shovel and cleared the bridge along 168th Street. On the first loop, we decided to try out the 'back half' of the lake...there was some off-roading for 1/4 mile where it wasn't possible to plow, so we slowed it down and watched our footing. The first half of the run, we maintained a pace of 10-ish minutes per mile. As the mileage increased and my running partners changed along the way, my pace definitely slowed (because of me, not them!). Thankfully, EJ had brought flashlights--we needed them by the end. After another loop, I only had a short distance to reach the official 20. I was intent upon having my new watch track 20 miles on the DOT! So, like a dork, I ran around the parking lot until it did, ha.

In between loops, we stopped at our cars to change socks, get a drink, etc. I should have taken my water fanny pack (so cute, despite what you're thinking about the phrase 'fanny pack') along, but EJ brought us water along the trail so that hit the spot.

I was so glad I brought along dry clothes to change into. As EJ and Heather went on to finish the last 2 miles of Heather's 20 mile run in the pitch black, I warmed up the car and changed in the backseat. I was SO cold from being outside for that long (3 hours and 42 minutes, folks!) and I just shook the entire way home. I asked Tim to help me into the house because I was afraid I was going to drop stuff going up the stairs with my soreness and shakiness. He, of course, agreed--despite having a sinus infection and not feeling his best, either.

I headed straight to the tub for a warm shower. When I was sufficiently warm, I turned the water cold and soaked in the tub for 15 minutes, followed by another quick shower to warm up. The cold soaks REALLY make a difference in muscle recovery. Tim told me I reminded him of Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite (remember the scene where he shaves off all his hair and wears a hoodie?) By then, I was starving so Tim went to pick up some pizza & breadsticks. I ate four breadsticks and two pieces of pizza! I iced my ankles and knees which were pretty sore and went to bed early.

Today, I feel like a new woman. I am so proud of this awesome accomplishment. It was such a privilege to run with others...and even though we didn't know each other well at all, we really bonded. As I reflect on my learning moments during yesterday and think about what the actual marathon will be like, I have come to the following conclusions.

• Despite what I have been telling myself about my all-cotton socks, they are more likely than not contributing to my blister issue. The bottom of my toes are a bit oddly shaped (aka, pointy) and I run more on the balls of my feet...but even on flat terrain without lots of turns like an indoor track, I still was having blister issues even with almost all toes taped up. TO DO: buy some new socks. Consider going back to shoes with more arch support to relieve some of the weight going to the ball of the foot when running.
• Running with a group is great! TO DO: find a group and run with them. :) If possible, contintue to remain involved with TNT.
• Realize that the conditions of yesterday's run, though my pace was slower, have helped me prepare for the marathon. WDW will be flat and it will be much warmer..and even though I will have another hour more to run beyond what I did yesterday, the conditions will be more favorable. TO DO: Reflect on my learning from yesterday's run and visualize the marathon going well.
• CELEBRATE! This is a huge accomplishment. Can't wait for Disney!

Keep on steppin'!