I Did That

Twenty Miles! I completed a 20 miler! And that's basically the bright spot in the gloom.

My left foot may never forgive me. My hamstring is punishing me. My time is making me rethink the whole doing-a-marathon thing. I'm not fast. Boston isn't even a vague dream. I'd be ecstatic with a 5-1/2 hour finish and realistically, I was planning on something closer to 6. Twenty miles today nearly took that 6 (if you count in the the 20 minute break I took to massage my achy foot and stretch my knotted hamstring.)

Okay, so it wasn't all bad. In fact, this was the first long run I've taken where I didn't have an asthma attack, didn't feel my heart running away with me, and didn't have a side cramp. The first 7 miles were great; after that my left foot started protesting like the unions in Wisconsin. I stopped 2 times between mile 7-13 to adjust my toe socks on the silly left foot. I will definitely not be wearing them for the race. Those stops are included in my final time. But the bathroom break/ stretch session is not. The bathroom is off the course a quarter of a mile; I hadn't planned on stopping there, but my leg (and bladder) needed the break. A short hamstring stretch, foot massage and leg drain helped more than I would have believed.

I took plenty of nutrition, a mix of salted nuts, gels, banana, and an English muffin with molasses. I did run out of water at mile 19, but that's only because it took me 30 minutes longer than planned. The weather was ideal and I can only hope for such next month. I love my New Balance wind breaker, with it's generous pockets and my new running capris are really comfortable.

The pain in my left foot and hamstring, coupled with my poor time really has me worried if I can even do this. I am not, by nature, a positive thinker. I don't know what I will do. I'm certain I can go the distance, just not so confident if I can do it in the alloted time.

I will stop being a jackass, though why we use that term boggles me, because this group love to watch me run...