I actually had mapped out a route for this run. It should have been a 14-miler. Half of the route was familiar. Half was new.
At the 3 1/2 mile mark, I started the new. Feeling good. Excited to keep going.
Moment of Panic: Not much of a paved shoulder for this next leg.
Sigh of Relief: Not much traffic.
Moving along at a good clip. This next leg should take me another 2 miles before I'm forced to make a left when I come to the T in the road. Shoulder getting wider...good thing. Getting out of the residential area...also a good thing as the traffic seems to lessen.
Mile 5. Time to take a left. At this point I'm thinking I could turn around if I had to and still make a 10 mile run out of it. Nah...still feeling really strong. I think I'll keep going.
Moment of Panic: No paved shoulder...
Sigh of Relief: Still little traffic.
According to the route I planned, I should make my turn in 1.5 miles. I'm passing streets, feeling good...but they all say "Dead End". The street I planned to turn left on doesn't seem to be here. Hmmmm. Where did I go wrong?
Mile 6. I slow to a walk and take a sip. I also notice a large rig swerving ahead...I'll give him plenty of slosh space.
Moment of Panic: Missed my turn.
Sigh of Relief: I know I can turn left beyond the interstate and still make it home.
County Road 46 up ahead. Hmmm, more new territory. Hoping, PRAYING for a wide shoulder. This could be a busy road. As I hit the stop sign, RunMeter tells me I've gone 8 miles. Wow...8 miles. If I turned back now, I'm forced to double it. Either way, forge on or turn around, I'm looking at a 16-miler.
Let's forge ahead.
Moment of Panic: Making that left...
Sigh of Relief: Big, wide, shoulder! Ahhhhh!
Great road to run on...yep, lots of traffic but lots of room. Still unfamiliar running territory, but feeling good, none the less. I can't believe I may actually do the entire run. I could wimp out and call the husband at this point. But I'm tough. And if worse comes to worse, I'll walk the rest.
Mile 9.5. Time to make the turn left back into New Market. Up ahead there is a bike/running trail that will take me 2.5 miles back to the street I normally run on. Now we are good. I know this route! YAY!
Mile 10. I stop to pop a Honey Stinger that my sister gave me while in New York. I decide not to chew it, rather hold it between my cheek and gum. This way I can't choke on it or be forced to drink more liquid than I'd like at this point. I only brought one water bottle. I'm not quite sure what I was thinking.
Moment of Panic: I'm gonna run out of coconut water.
Sigh of Relief: Nah...just little sips. I'll make it. Again, I can always call the hubster.
Mile 11. I'm realizing that I'm keeping a pretty good pace. Run a marathon? No problem...in under 4 hours? No problem!! Feeling super confident. My pace right now matches the half marathon I ran in September. Not my best, but respectable. I'm thinking if I could ONLY run a 8:30/mile marathon, I'd have this licked!
Moment of Panic: Why is it getting colder? Shouldn't I be getting warmer? Ah! North wind.
Sigh of Relief: At least it'll cool me off a bit. That's good, right?
Stop for a sip.
Mile 14. Time just under 2 hours. Yay! I just surpassed a half marathon. If I did what I just did, I'd easily break a 4:00:00 marathon. But I'm really getting cold now. I think my body has stopped heating itself. Do I take another stinger? I opt for another few sips of coconut water.
Mile 14.5. My wireless headphones die. (((((sigh)))))
Note to self: Bring wired headphones on long runs just in case...
Mile 15ish. My legs feel like lead. But my lungs are just fine. Cardiovascularly, I could just keep going. That much I'm sure of. It is just the legs. Maybe I need to refuel better? Maybe I need to just run more longer distances? I gotta keep reading on the subject.
Note to self: Brooks Launch will not work for a full marathon. I can feel the road now. I need a sneaker with more padding to double the distance.
Moment of Panic: I have no idea how far I've run.
Sigh of Relief: I've made the final turn home.
The home stretch. Gotta love it. I want to sprint it out, but I'm pretty whipped. I'll just keep swimming...like Dory. Just keep swimming...less than a half mile to the dirt road. Then you can walk!
Ahhhh...dirt. I pull my phone off my arm. To my surprise, it says 16.38. Stop this sucker! And revel in the fact that you just RAN 16 MILES!!!
Walk it off.
Open the door to the house.
Husband: How far did you go?
Me: (((no reply)))
Husband: C'mon...how far did you go?
Me: 16 miles
Husband: What, are you F*$&@*'-ing crazy? (except he actually used the word)
Guess I just might be.
1 comments:
What an accomplishment! How happy are you!? Congrats!
'They' say you only have to train to 18 miles to be ready for a marathon, so I've read..
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