"See, here's the thing..."
I ran 20 miles today!!! Yes, you read correctly...I actually ran 20 miles this morning. Of course, I am now having great difficulty walking...and sitting...and laying down...and just moving in general, but I ran 20 miles!
Now that you know that I ran 20 miles, I'm sure you want to know exactly what happened, right? Well, here's the scoop. It all strated on Thursday night when I began "carbo-loading." Keith happened to fix spaghetti, so that's what I ate. We had mexican food on Friday night...lots of rice and tortillas, and then spaghetti again on Saturday night at mom's house. Then I ate oatmeal, a banana, and a little bit of peanut butter for breakfast this morning. I also did GU at miles 4, 8, and 12, and a granola bar at mile 16. Now, normally, I wouldn't eat that many carbs. My body doesn't like them...it rebels and makes me gain tons of weight. But, I was able to continue to run even past my normal breaking point, so this was a bonus...regardless of how much weight I gained in doing so. So, the lesson I learned here is that I must eat my carbs - PERIOD!
Enough about food. Food is boring in the world of running. But what I see and think about while I run, that's not so boring. When I run, I normally run through my neighborhood. It's a pretty big neighborhood...actually it's about 3 or 4 different neighborhoods that have all run together...so I can get a lot of miles in if I run up and down each street, plus the side streets. Sometimes I get the side streets in twice - once on each street that they connect. Plus, I run around the school in the neighborhood a few times, and the track around the park.
You would think that looking at houses for up to 4 hours at a time, would be boring, but it isn't. There are some houses that I really like and look forward to seeing. There are new "for sale" signs that spring up every time I run. Sometimes I imagine what the inside of the house might look like and what it would be like to live there. Then there are the boats - the VIP and the Four Winns. I wonder who the VIP is and if the four Winns are the people in the "Winn Family." I run by the church whose pastor's name is "Tiny" and wonder exactly what "Tiny" might look like. I run by the back side of the storage building and wonder when the city is going to clean the graffiti off of the wall. I run by the honeysuckle and remember the times that we would pull the stem off of the honeysuckle in the flower bed at our house and lick off the sweet nectar as a kid. I run by the paririe dogs, the rabbits, and the owls (although they only join me on my early morning runs) in the empty field by the park. I run around the park and can see Sonic to my left and think about how good a Route 44 mango tea or diet cherry coke would taste at that moment. I also run by the Tubbs House, which is a historical marker. I love that house. I've always loved that house - even when I was little I wanted to live in that house.
Sometimes, however, I talk. I talk to myself a lot. I talk about the trip that we'll be taking in a few weeks to San Francisco so that I can actually run the marathon. I talk about my kids, my husband, my family. I talk about my life - what it is - where it's going. Today I talked a lot about why I can't be satisfied. I asked the question, "Why isn't _____ good enough?" several times during the course of my run today. I talk about how much farther I have to run before I can stop for a short walk break. I talk myself into going just a few more feet. Today I talked myself into running a whole loop around the park just so I could eat my granola bar and drink the cold water that Keith had left for me. Then I cheered out loud when I reached 18 miles - I'm glad the only other people on the road with me where those in their cars who couldn't hear me!
I also talk to God. I pary that he gives me the strength the finish...espcially at mile 13 when my mind is starting to doubt my ability to finish. I pray for my kids, my husband, my family. I pray for my friends...espcially those who are struggling right now. I pray for the people that I am actually running this marathon for. Then there are the times when I don't pray. I just shut up and listen to what God has to tell me. It's literally my Sunday morning church service.
Just because I am busy thinking, and talking...alot...doesn't mean that I don't struggle. I struggle a lot when I run. I know that part of the problem is the fact that I'm alone. The whole entire time! I hope that the presence of my online teammates, my family, and the cheer of the crowd will help to pull me through. Of course, the tuxedo clad firemen at the finish line might help too! :-)
Ok, so I finished my longest run of the season today...that in and of itself is a huge accomplishment. However, I also reached my fundraising goal this weekend! WOOHOO! I almost feel that raising the required amount of money is a bigger accomplishment than the actual running. This is because the running is all me - I know I can make myself do just about anything if I put my mind to it. But I can't make anyone else donate money. This concerned me for a long time. Things just fell into place this weekend - for the whole Team in Training experience.
So what's left for me with Team in Training? Well, I have a 15 mile run next Sunday and an 8 mile run the next Sunday. I also have to continue with my early morning training runs. And of course, the actual marathon.
Ty and Ry Update:
Ty continues to enjoy middle school. She is truly becoming much more independent - not that she wasn't before, but I was always really involved in what she was doing because she was at school with me. But now I am absolutely clueless. If it wasn't for the fact that I can check her grades and lunch account online, I would be totally uninformed. For Ty, that's ok - she's really smart and I trust her completely (she has nothing lower than a 98 right now).
Ry...what can I say about Ry? He makes me laugh each and every day. He is also totally engrossed with the movie "The Sandlot." He thinks he is Benny! His 7th birthday was two weeks ago and his birthday party was last weekend - a Sandlot party at the baseball fields. The slide show will give you just a glimpse of who he is.
I ran 20 miles today!!! Yes, you read correctly...I actually ran 20 miles this morning. Of course, I am now having great difficulty walking...and sitting...and laying down...and just moving in general, but I ran 20 miles!
Now that you know that I ran 20 miles, I'm sure you want to know exactly what happened, right? Well, here's the scoop. It all strated on Thursday night when I began "carbo-loading." Keith happened to fix spaghetti, so that's what I ate. We had mexican food on Friday night...lots of rice and tortillas, and then spaghetti again on Saturday night at mom's house. Then I ate oatmeal, a banana, and a little bit of peanut butter for breakfast this morning. I also did GU at miles 4, 8, and 12, and a granola bar at mile 16. Now, normally, I wouldn't eat that many carbs. My body doesn't like them...it rebels and makes me gain tons of weight. But, I was able to continue to run even past my normal breaking point, so this was a bonus...regardless of how much weight I gained in doing so. So, the lesson I learned here is that I must eat my carbs - PERIOD!
Enough about food. Food is boring in the world of running. But what I see and think about while I run, that's not so boring. When I run, I normally run through my neighborhood. It's a pretty big neighborhood...actually it's about 3 or 4 different neighborhoods that have all run together...so I can get a lot of miles in if I run up and down each street, plus the side streets. Sometimes I get the side streets in twice - once on each street that they connect. Plus, I run around the school in the neighborhood a few times, and the track around the park.
You would think that looking at houses for up to 4 hours at a time, would be boring, but it isn't. There are some houses that I really like and look forward to seeing. There are new "for sale" signs that spring up every time I run. Sometimes I imagine what the inside of the house might look like and what it would be like to live there. Then there are the boats - the VIP and the Four Winns. I wonder who the VIP is and if the four Winns are the people in the "Winn Family." I run by the church whose pastor's name is "Tiny" and wonder exactly what "Tiny" might look like. I run by the back side of the storage building and wonder when the city is going to clean the graffiti off of the wall. I run by the honeysuckle and remember the times that we would pull the stem off of the honeysuckle in the flower bed at our house and lick off the sweet nectar as a kid. I run by the paririe dogs, the rabbits, and the owls (although they only join me on my early morning runs) in the empty field by the park. I run around the park and can see Sonic to my left and think about how good a Route 44 mango tea or diet cherry coke would taste at that moment. I also run by the Tubbs House, which is a historical marker. I love that house. I've always loved that house - even when I was little I wanted to live in that house.
Sometimes, however, I talk. I talk to myself a lot. I talk about the trip that we'll be taking in a few weeks to San Francisco so that I can actually run the marathon. I talk about my kids, my husband, my family. I talk about my life - what it is - where it's going. Today I talked a lot about why I can't be satisfied. I asked the question, "Why isn't _____ good enough?" several times during the course of my run today. I talk about how much farther I have to run before I can stop for a short walk break. I talk myself into going just a few more feet. Today I talked myself into running a whole loop around the park just so I could eat my granola bar and drink the cold water that Keith had left for me. Then I cheered out loud when I reached 18 miles - I'm glad the only other people on the road with me where those in their cars who couldn't hear me!
I also talk to God. I pary that he gives me the strength the finish...espcially at mile 13 when my mind is starting to doubt my ability to finish. I pray for my kids, my husband, my family. I pray for my friends...espcially those who are struggling right now. I pray for the people that I am actually running this marathon for. Then there are the times when I don't pray. I just shut up and listen to what God has to tell me. It's literally my Sunday morning church service.
Just because I am busy thinking, and talking...alot...doesn't mean that I don't struggle. I struggle a lot when I run. I know that part of the problem is the fact that I'm alone. The whole entire time! I hope that the presence of my online teammates, my family, and the cheer of the crowd will help to pull me through. Of course, the tuxedo clad firemen at the finish line might help too! :-)
Ok, so I finished my longest run of the season today...that in and of itself is a huge accomplishment. However, I also reached my fundraising goal this weekend! WOOHOO! I almost feel that raising the required amount of money is a bigger accomplishment than the actual running. This is because the running is all me - I know I can make myself do just about anything if I put my mind to it. But I can't make anyone else donate money. This concerned me for a long time. Things just fell into place this weekend - for the whole Team in Training experience.
So what's left for me with Team in Training? Well, I have a 15 mile run next Sunday and an 8 mile run the next Sunday. I also have to continue with my early morning training runs. And of course, the actual marathon.
Ty and Ry Update:
Ty continues to enjoy middle school. She is truly becoming much more independent - not that she wasn't before, but I was always really involved in what she was doing because she was at school with me. But now I am absolutely clueless. If it wasn't for the fact that I can check her grades and lunch account online, I would be totally uninformed. For Ty, that's ok - she's really smart and I trust her completely (she has nothing lower than a 98 right now).
Ry...what can I say about Ry? He makes me laugh each and every day. He is also totally engrossed with the movie "The Sandlot." He thinks he is Benny! His 7th birthday was two weeks ago and his birthday party was last weekend - a Sandlot party at the baseball fields. The slide show will give you just a glimpse of who he is.
2 Comments:
20 miles! I am so proud of you! You are my hero!
I am glad your running time blesses you so much. What an added bonus!
SHOOT! If I had known that there was going to be TUXEDO wearing firemen there, I would've already bought my plane ticket and reserved a room in the sleazy motel I could have afforded in San Francisco.
Ry's party was awesome!
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