Many the Miles...

26 Days!!! Holy Crap! Yesterday I ran my longest run for this training, 20 miles! I went camping (well in cabins so kind of camping) this weekend and missed the team run at Valley Forge Saturday. I did my 20 at Kelly Drive yesterday from 2:15- 6:45…

Man, let me just tell you, there is nothing more powerful in the human body than the mind. I have been lucky to not have hit ‘The Wall’ in every one of my long runs, however yesterday was a different story. It was nice out, nice enough to run in my skort, a t shirt, and I brought the sleeves in case. What I did not think through was the sun going down around mile 18.5 and then I was freezing!

Anyway, so the wall… I ran the first 15 miles with the 2:1 interval, Run 2 mins walk 1. And it was good, kept about an 11-11:30 mile to that point. Then I started to get tired (Mentally I was coming up with reasons why this was harder then it needed to be) I switched my interval to 1:2 and thought that it would help so I could keep the running steady for that one minute and get to walk more.

My brain was just not having it. I started to feel my muscles ache and about then was when my left knee started to creek. In fairness the knee usually starts to hurt after 12-13 miles but when my mind notices and is looking for reasons to through in the towel the pain pulses in my mind and I can’t let it go. I started to resent the beep of my watch, even for 60 seconds I didn’t want to run anymore. The dilemma here being, I just needed to get to where I was going and I would be done. It wasn’t like I could just get in my car and finish the run. I was going to get the miles in no matter what.

About 16.5  miles in I heard someone call my name. It was my friend Suzy! We stopped and talked for 10 mins or so and I was so happy to see someone. Even though it was only 3 and a half hours or so of no talking, I was so happy to have a conversation.

Friday I did get to run 5 miles in the morning before work. I was laying in bed thinking of a hundred reasons why I should not get up but thankfully I got out there. I took some pics from that run:

Oh I forgot, Saturday I went Horseback riding. It was my second time ever on a Horse (Midnight). I had a lot of fun but a little soreness in the thigh area. 



Today I am sore city. I got a cramp in my left calf when I was sleeping Saturday morning, in the bunk and man it was painful. Usually I will punch my leg and cry until it goes away but it was 9am and there were a couple other girls sleeping in the cabin so I quietly held my leg with a death grip until I could swing it to the side and hop in my sleeping bag a couple feet. The pain was there about an hour after I was awake and went away, but today the left calf is a hurtin'. I laid in bed until the absolute last minute this morning, wishing I could sleep for just one more day.. But I got up and I am here, at work.. Wanted to Update this before I got back to the grind for real.

I have Nutrition tonight, which is pretty cool to take a look at, however I feel like I exclude myself from what we discuss. Like the fact that I ate eggs, potatoes, and a bagel this morning...I think the whole 20 mile run yesterday gives me a free bagel card  :)

"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment." ~Buddha

It's when I think about the miles behind me and the ones left ahead that my mind gets overwhelmed, but when I focus on just this one minute or one mile, anything is possible.