16 mile run - October 25

After the Marine Corps half marathon, I was hurting. Big time. It left me questioning my sanity in pursuing a marathon. My running for the 2 weeks after that was something like this – complete rest for the week immediately following the half marathon. On Saturday, Oct 11, my group ran 14 miles. Those of us who had run the MC half, only ran 7. I was glad of that. I could handle 7; that’s all. Then, I ran an easy 2 miles on Sunday, the 12th. Well, it “should” have been easy; it wasn’t. My legs were still tired and everything hurt. I ran an easy 3 at my half-marathon race pace on Wednesday, the 15th. That one felt OK. Then a 5K walk/run in DC on October 18 with friends. That 5K was really all about being with friends. It had very little to do with actual running.

By the time Tuesday, the 21st came around, I was in a mild panic thinking about running 16 miles on the 25th. I did not at all feel ready for it in any way. I knew how I felt after the half, and how long the recovery had been. No way would I be able to handle 16 miles. Coach Ken stepped in to say, “you can do this, no problem”. I really did not believe it. I did run a good 6 miles that evening, which helped with the anxiety. I still wasn't sure about adding 10 more to that.

Then a car accident on Wednesday, the 22nd, seemed to seal it for me. I had some minor injuries. There is no way I should run 16 miles. But, interestingly, the car accident had the opposite affect. As soon as those around me, including Ken, started saying, “don’t run”, I became more determined TO run 16 miles.

Saturday morning, it was (pre-dawn) 73 degrees and 100% humidity. You read that right, 100% humidity! It was heavily overcast with occasional misting rain. I decided to run with the slower of my 2 groups. ALL of my marathon training friends were there this morning, too. Before we got started, Chris (head coach) said a few words, “Today you’ll be running 16 miles which will be more than many of you have ever run. When you get back here at the end of that, just think to yourselves, ‘Only 10 more to go’!”

Jayne was not feeling up to par, and started getting worn out around mile 7. Also, about that time a disturbing thing happened. One of the women in our group saw a political sign is someone’s yard which she disagreed with. She ran right over, yanked it out of the yard and threw it in a dumpster to the cheers of a few others in the group. Personally, I didn’t agree with what the sign said either. But, I disagreed more with her throwing it away. That sign represented the home owner’s freedom of speech.

Other than that, the run went very well for me. I kept waiting to hit a wall; but, never did! I felt tired at mile 14 when starting up the Main Street Bridge. But, I was up and over it fairly quickly. It wasn’t a problem at all. Anyway ... It was a good run!!! No ... it was a GREAT run!!! I stayed hydrated and fueled. It was a huge psychological barrier to break through. And, it was actually fun!