Fourteenth Group Run

I'm calling this entry "Fourteenth Group Run" even though it was just me and Chris running together, doing our big 20 MILE RUN!

We woke up around 5:00am on Saturday, got dressed, and both had two hard-boiled eggs and a thick piece of Asiago toast with butter (yummy). We prepared some bags with water, Gatorade, and Starbursts and put notes on them that basically said "Don't touch." Chris loaded up his fuel belt and I loaded up my new fanny pack that Christine generously gave to me, and we headed to Hull to strategically place our supplies along our route. We did so, then drove to the Derby Street shoppes. Kristen was there early and we said hi to her, then headed out to run 20 miles!

We started out slow and steady. My knees and hips hurt me as soon as we started, but nothing I couldn't run through. It was cold and drizzling at the onset, so we each wore sweatshirts, but as we approached the first water stop at mile 3, we were both both getting warm, so we ditched the sweatshirts. (Side note: There were slugs everywhere. Slimy, orange slugs, all over the sidewalks. Just thought you should know.)

Chris and I both brought 3 GUs, and wanted to try to eat about every hour. We would have needed another GU each, but I think we stuck to this while we could. We both opened the first one about an hour into our run, around mile 5.

We kept going, and just before mile 6, Kate, Christine and Monica found us and gave us some Powerade and some encouragement. So, we skipped our bag of water and kept on going.

Around mile 8, Chris was feeling tired and thought he'd have to walk. He had anther GU and decided to at least keep running until the half-way point. We stopped at our mile 9 water stop, and there we pulled out some of the Starbursts and devoured them. He felt much better after that, and started running so fast I could barely keep up! He said he really just needed to eat something. I think it helped me too. We're both thinking of pre-peeling some Starburts and carrying them with us in baggies for the marathon!

We kept going on towards mile 10. Lorri drove by and stopped to say hi. At the intersection of Nantasket and Draper Aves., it was time to turn around! We stopped again at mile 11 for more Gatorade, water and Starbursts. Around mile 12, we took a walk-break, and then Kate and Christine stopped for us again. After that, Chris' knees just wouldn't let him keep running, so I went on ahead.

I felt amazingly energized for some reason, and was able to run at what felt like a pretty good pace for the rest of the run! I really think this is because of the nice, slow pace for the first half, and also the GUs! For my 18-mile run a while ago, I felt completely drained. The Rice Krispie Treats helped for a few minutes, but I think I must have really hit that wall. GUs have saved my life! I wish I hadn't waited so long to try them out.

Just before I got to the mile 17 water stop, I noticed my belly was feeling a little empty, so I had more Starbursts when I got to it. That helped for a while, but the hungry feeling came back. Unfortunately, I was out of food, but fortunately, I only had about 2 miles left to go. I knew I just had to hang in there and get it done, and then I could go to Panera and eat whatever I wanted! It wasn't that easy, of course. The bottom outside of my left foot started to hurt then, but I just plowed through that pain and kept going. When I got back to the car at Derby St., I had a huge, goofy grin on my face, because I WAS DONE! I had run 20 miles!

I went to Panera, but the weirdest thing happened: my hunger temporarily disappeared. I got a drink and got a text from Chris; he was on his final 3 miles! I went to the running store where we typically meet, and where TNTers get 20% off, and asked the sales person about my foot. I have has the same pair of running shoes since February and I wanted to know if that could have anything to do with the weird new pain. He said it was probably just from running 20 miles! haha! but he said it was probably time for new sneakers anyway, so I bought a brand new pair of the same exact sneakers.

Then I read my book on a bench until Chris ran up, and we drove our route again so that we could collect our bags of supplies.  For the rest of the day, we iced our knees and watched DVDs, then went to bed at an embarrassingly early time for a Saturday night!  IT was around 8/8:30.  

Now we taper down until the marathon!  I'm feeling much more confident  about the race now that the 20-miler is over!  I was pretty nervous after the 18-er.  IT was so rough!  I feel more prepared now.  My only concern (and it's not even a real concern) is the weird foot pain, which still hasn't gone away, but I'm going to stay off of it for a few days instead of going on my 4 and 6 mile runs this week.