12 miles!

This morning's run was on Amelia Island (Fernandina Beach) which is about an hour's drive north of Jacksonville. That meant getting up at 3:00 this morning to meet up with my carpool group at 4:30.

It was COLD* this morning!!! The first part of the run was into Fort Clinch State Park. It is heavily forested and, at that time of the morning (pre-dawn), it was darker than dark. Really, it was completely dark. Fortunately, 2 runners in our group had flashlights so we could see a little of the road before us. I was feeling good; really good. And, I was pushing the pace a bit. I got the hook though, and was threatened with being kicked back up to my assigned pace group if I didn't settle down. So, I settled down.


By mile 5, it was light enough to see everything. We ran down a boardwalk to the beach and took a group photo. Then we started back out of the park. On our way out, one of the women in our group screamed and stopped running completely. She was staring up at the trees and pointing. I was expecting to see someone hanging there, by her reaction. What we saw instead were hundreds of HUGE spider webs extending down to just above our heads. Each web had a very large banana spider in the center (think: Harry Potter "Chamber of Secrets" on spider size). We had been running under them for the past 5 miles, so no big deal to MOST of us. A few needed major convincing to continue the run, however. It actually took one of us saying, "Well, we're going. You can stay here with the spiders or run on out of here with us," to get everyone moving again. In all, we covered a little over 7 miles in the park.

After Fort Clinch, we turned and ran towards town. The sun was well up, and it was a beautiful morning! I did not start feeling any fatigue until 9.7 miles. Then, I just felt somewhat tired. I was still OK until mile 11. That is where I hit the wall today. From there on, it was tough, no lie. Just as I hit the wall, my friend, Jayne asked,"Hey Linda, what's 16 squared?"
"What?"
"You know, 16 x 16?"
"256"
"OK, thanks. Wait, I meant 16 x 12"
"Sorry, only 1 math problem per morning."
"Dang it." With that she pulled out a calculator and a course map, and started some sort of odd calculations - all while running! This kept me entertained until mile 12. The run should have ended there, but didn't.

And the run was actually 12.3 miles. I do believe that very last 0.3 mile was the toughest of all. The psychological part can be every bit as tough as the physical sometimes.

Now, I am tired and a bit achy. But, overall, I feel really good. And, I feel like I CAN run the half-marathon next Saturday. After all, it will be only 0.8 of a mile farther than I ran today. And, I have convinced Jayne to run it with me.

It's all good. Really good.

Group photo at Mile 6
*Relatively speaking, about 65 degrees - cold for all of us

Milestones

Saturday, September 13, was my longest run ever at 10 miles. We met before dawn down by the River. It was already 85 degrees and 95% humidity BEFORE sunrise. And, my left brain was telling me, "you should have stayed in bed".

Soon after we started, our course took us up and over the 1st of 2 bridges on that day’s run. This bridge is a tough one. It is quite steep, resulting in a hard uphill run and a tendency to run the downhill too fast. This bridge and I have met before. I have burned out by running the downhill side too fast on more than one occasion. So this time I stayed back in the middle of the group so I would have others between me and a reckless run. That strategy worked.

After the bridge, our run took us through one of the nicer, older neighborhoods by the river. As we started through the neighborhood, at about 1.8 miles, I had my first, "I can't do this" moment. I realized we had over 8 miles left to go, and it just felt impossible. I talked myself out of that by remembering I had just run 8 miles the previous Saturday. And, I kept going.

Miles 2 - 6 were fine. The good thing about running in a group is that people talk. The talking is a welcome distraction from ... well ... running. That morning the talk was mostly about home improvement. There is an unspoken rule that any political discussion is forbidden. For that, I am extremely grateful. But, despite the friendly banter, at about mile 7, I started to feel tired. And I got my 2nd, "stop running" message from the annoying part of my brain. I fought through it to mile 8.

Then, at mile 8 I hit a wall and the base of the 2nd bridge all at the same time. I still don't know how I made it over that bridge. My calf muscles were screaming all the way up; my quads were yelling on the way down. From that point on, I was running on will-power alone. But, I did it. The whole 10 miles.

And, coming up this Saturday, September 27, will be a 12–mile run. A new milestone.

What keeps me going ...

There are days when the running is wonderful in spite of everything. Last Thursday evening was one of those runs. It was hot and humid and my IT Band was still hurting. But, I had a great run. It was one of those stress-releasing, good for the soul runs that left me smiling into the next day.

And yesterday's run was good as well. We met at the beach before dawn and saw the sun rise over the ocean as we put in our 8 miles. It was beautiful. The camaraderie was excellent also.

So, those good runs along with support of friends and family keep me going through the tough times.

But, what really keeps me going is why I am training for this marathon in the 1st place.

It is for those who have fought cancer and survived. Donna Deegan is there with us every Saturday morning. Her spirit and courage inspire me to keep going.

And, it is for those who have fought cancer and died. John TenBroeck was there with us every Saturday morning until the end. That end came Friday, September 5, 2008. It was the physical end of his life, and many of us will miss him deeply. But, the things he set in motion such as founding the Jacksonville Track Club (now JTC Running) years ago, will keep area runners running for years to come.

Things that slow me down ...

One of the things I really don't need in my training is something beyond my control slowing me down.

In the middle of August, it was an upper respiratory infection. I had NO energy at all. I still attempted to get my mileage in with varying degrees of success.

Just as I was recovering, Tropical Storm Fay hit town and flooded everything. Trees and power lines were down. Streets were flooded. There were even reports of alligators and snakes in the flooded streets. My group run was cancelled, as was a race I had signed up for. I did make it out for a run on Saturday, August 23. It was pouring down rain and gusty winds. I made it 7.33 miles before giving up.

And now, I am having and ITB flare-up. I ran through it (7 miles) with my group on Saturday; and 5 miles this morning. It was excruciating.

I have learned that running is cyclical. Some days (weeks?) are just hard; others are wonderfully easy. I know that right now I am in a tough cycle. I just have to wait it out and keep running.