20 miler!

Today, I hit a major achievement in my running career - I did my first twenty miler! It's incredibly exciting because finishing it means I am ready for a marathon!

I actually set out to do the 20 miler yesterday. It didn't happen though. Things were taking too much time, and it eventually got too late. I was ready for it today, though. I loaded up my audiobook onto my ipod yesterday, and took a quick drive over to Dunkin Donuts this morning for a pumpkin muffin. Gross as this may be, even though I may have been burping pumpkin spice burps well beyond mile 5, it was a subtle reminder to myself that I consumed enough energy and could get through the distance.

Miles 1-5 were exceedingly slow. I was afraid of running out of energy, so I was definitely holding back. At mile 5, I popped a few shot blocks, then at mile 6, I refilled my water. I felt done. Usually when I run this route, mile 6 marks the halfway turnaround point. This time, it wasn't even one third of the way there. I still took it pretty slow heading back, and took a bathroom break at mile 11.

I figured that this would be a good time for my Gu. I ran out of Vanilla Bean but I had "Roctane" that was given out as a free sample at the Rock & Roll Half, so I took that out. It smelled gross, but I tried to convince myself to just go with it. But it was so nasty. The next nine miles, I was tasting jaegerbombs. Definitely one of the last tastes I wanted to have in my mouth. Gross.

At mile 12, I wanted to be done, but I made the turnaround quick, not even giving myself the chance to think about it. I started to pick up my pace a little bit. I figured if I really want to be done, I'll move a little faster. My audiobook was getting interesting. I had trouble getting into it at first, but now I was getting to a good part. I stopped at refilled my water at mile 13, and thought to myself that I might be crazy for running 20 miles when I am not officially registered for an upcoming marathon right now. A second thought I had was more positive, though - The fall weather is nice because my water stays cool while I run.

Miles 14-16 were tough. I was starting to hurt, and I knew once I hit mile 16, there was no turning back, I was finishing 20 miles whether I ran it or crawled it, but it was the only way to get back to my car. After mile 16, I popped a few more shot blocks and I started to pick up the pace a little bit more. I wanted to finish before it got too dark.

By mile 17, I was running significantly faster than I had started. I couldn't feel my legs anymore, so it was nice that they weren't hurting. Around mile 18, my back started to hurt. I kept trying to reach around and massage my upper back/the back of my neck, but it wasn't doing much.

It was getting pretty dark at this point. At mile 19, I pulled out my headphones so I could be more alert and booked it. Sprinted. As fast as I could. Stretched, and went back to my car. I couldn't believe I did it.

So now what's next? Taper? After today's run, I can't freaking wait for a few shorter "long runs" that aren't so gruelingly long. But I also can't wait for a marathon!