rollin' with the homies

at long last, a triumphant long run report!

last night i was able to find my watch, but my nike plus receiver was still at large. so i made a plan to run a 3.25 mile loop from my house, continue on to run the 10.25 mile loop to the golf course, and then finish up with the 3.25 mile loop i started with. when i charted it out on gmaps pedometer, it would total roughly 16.75 miles.

before my run, i drove to the entrance of the golf course to stash 2 bottles of water. i also stashed one on my porch. i had 4 full bottles on my fuel belt but i always get nervous that i don't have enough water and there was only one place along my route to buy water and that was at safeway. and we all know how i feel about safeway! i packed 4 gus with the idea to stop and walk every 45 minutes to take one. i also planned to take 10 second walk breaks somewhere between each gu. (thanks wendy for your tip)

so off i started in the semi-darkness. the first mile kinda sucked as it included a hill, but once i found the other side, i was running pretty smoothly. i did my 3.25 loop, got back to my house and peed. while it was annoying to have to stop i felt confident that i was properly hydrated.

so off i went again. there was another small uphill portion but for the most part, the next 2.5 miles would be nice and flat. which would be good because the first half of the golf course was a long, slow climb. by the time i got there, i was not even halfway through my bottles, so i didn't have to refill. onward i trudged. up, up, up. before i knew it the worst of the hills were behind me and i could cruise the slow, descent down.

somewhere along the way i reached the halfway mark and i assessed my situation. i wasn't spent, but it also didn't feel like a walk in the park. my spirits were high, but i knew i wasn't going to just fly through the second half. but i pressed on.

i made it to the entrance of the golf course, and found my water bottles totally unfucked around with! while i'd heard of people doing this all the time, i'd never done it myself because i was always afraid someone would find my bottles and put drugs in them or something. stupid, i know. but you have those thoughts when you are raised by a paranoid, overprotective mother.

anyway, at this point, i was relieved to run a nice flat stretch of road. during this time a couple thoughts ran through my head. i tried to do the math of how far i'd run and how much longer i had and what time it was now and what time i wanted to finish , but my brain started to get really confused. then for some strange reason, i thought of where i was on 9/11. . i remember that day very, very vividly. i remember the second i heard the news and everything that happened afterward. i don't know why i started thinking about it, but i did. then my mind started to prepare for the uphill climb back up to my house, where i would reach
13.5 miles.

the idea of stopping then didn't even occur to me. i was tired, sure, but i knew i only had 3.25 miles left to go. even if i had to walk half of it, i'd still try. so up another hill i climbed and down again i went. when i got to the turn around point i was fucking spent. at that point i'd cleared about 15 miles, a valiant effort indeed. i took my final gu and a took a long walk break to figure out how i was gonna finish the last 1.6 miles. i was just sooo tired. and my legs were really starting to not like me.

but then wendy's voice said to me, "your mind is stronger than your body". she appeared out of nowhere, hovering in the air, with her arms crossed looking really stoic, looking kind of like a genie. then i heard anne's motherly voice, whispering in my ear "you can do it". she was sitting on my shoulder like one of those good angels. then i saw jen and maritza on the race course, with a big sign cheering and yelling like they were on crack. then i heard marcy, swearing and cursing at me to finish. i saw neese on the sidelines, meditating and calm, sending me good vibes. and i saw jess and bcg at the finish line with huge pitchers of cold, frosty beer in each hand. i was mentally high-fiving people left and right, amy, teacherwoman, josie, gina. what a coincidence that bobby brown's "every little step i take" came on my ipod. i felt sooo invigorated!

and it was very appropo that rihanna's "umbrella" came on as i rounded the corner to finish the last quarter mile home! i felt so much more energized at mile 16.5 than i did at 15! mind over matter, people. mind over matter.

while i couldn't take splits at every mile, i took splits at distances i knew.

split: (total distance): split time: (total time)
1.625: (1.625) 20.53 (20.52)
1.625 (3.25): 19.08 (40:01)
2.5 (5.75): 27:54 (1:07:56)
5.25: (11): 1:02: 26 (2:09:23)
2.5: (13.5): 31:47 (2:41:10)
1.625: (15.125) 20:08 (3:01:18)
1.625: (16.75) 21:21 (3:22:44)

ave pace: roughly 12:00

so finally, one grrrreat long run in the books. the plan is to run an 18 miler next week, then a 20. the last week in september i'll be in carmel, so i'll probably cut back to a 10 miler. then do another 20 miler the week after that. and officially my taper will begin.