I've always thought of myself as a person that has had to work hard for everything...nothing ever comes easy. That was certainly the case yesterday as I pounded out my final 20 mile run before the marathon. I shoved off at around 0830...less than 10 minutes after I started I had to make a quick pit stop (I apologize to any passer-byers). But, then I was good to go for another 8 miles or so when I had to make my second pit stop. I used the same route that I had ran a couple of weeks ago...basically, route 9 all the way to my parents' house. But, this time I did things a bit different. I carb'd up on Thursday and some on Friday, and I drank an endurance shake about 2 hours before I started the run. The changes clearly made quite a difference. My legs hurt like crazy, but my stomach and endurance felt pretty good. I had energy throughout the entire run. AND, my hydration team met me at mile 12 for some ice cold drink!!!!! It was a beautiful thing.
Now, back to the whole working hard for everything bit. Even though I felt fairly decent, as already noted, my legs were a'hurtin. My knees were a'hurtin....and my dogs were a'barkin (feet). But, I knew that at around mile 15 or 16 I was going to get some extra motivation, so I pressed on. And so did the rain. Right at mile 15 God decided that the first 2+ hours of my run were too easy, so He opened the clouds and dumped His holy rain on me. Just after mile 16, my motivation appeared...in the form of high speed, motivated Air Force combat killa...my bro! When I saw him, I knew that the rain wouldn't phase me. I knew that it was time to make it happen. So we did it together. We finished the run, soaking wet. We made 20 our b*tch.
And then we celebrated.
Love this post! You rocked those 20 miles and glad you had someone to finish the last leg with! :)
ReplyDeleteDude, I'm working on a marathon build up right now too...I'm only at 18, but you're right...it ain't no joke. Way to rock it out!
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