18 mile weekend

After running a total of 18 miles this weekend, I feel like we've dedicated our entire weekend to running (we were either running, thinking about it, talking about it, driving to do it, or returning home from just doing it). Even now, it's 6:00 on a Sunday night, and I'm writing about it. Then again, when you are training for a marathon, running becomes your life. Oddly enough, running has enhanced our lives in countless ways.

Hal had us down for our first 15 mile run on Saturday. Running 15 miles is exactly how I imagined it would be ... very, very painful and long. My only goal for the day was to run the 15 miles every step of the way. I personally just needed to know that I could run 15 miles, even if I had to do it at a 11:20 mile pace. Because we were running so early, our bodies took a bit longer to adjust. Soon after that, little body parts, one at a time, started to ache. Funny thing is - very rarely do two things hurt at once. By the end of the run, everything on me had hurt at one point, even my teeth. We chose one of our favorite trails (the trial is long, the scenery is gorgeous, trees line part of the path, we get to run past different parks, we get to see wildlife - 4 deer for that run, and it has some inclines). We ran 8 miles out and 7 miles back.

The run felt great until about mile 12.5. Past that point, my body and mind started shutting down. With 2.5 miles left, I so much wanted to finish and complete my goal of running the entire thing, but it was one of the hardest things I've had to do. Once I started to hurt, I had to tell myself, "One step at a time" over and over. Then I asked Adam to distract me with funny stories from college, which worked for half a mile (he got through 3 stories). With a mile left, a woman on a bike rode past us and said, "Hey, you're still running. Way to go!" That one comment gave me such a significant amount of strength and energy boost, which sadly, only lasted about 3o seconds. What it comes down to is Adam ... he's the reason I was able to run every part of the 15 miles. He kept encouraging me, making me laugh, and running slower so that I could keep going. When I look back on this entire marathon training, that's the one thing I'm going to remember ... just how amazing Adam has been for this entire journey.

If 15 miles hurts this much, what is 26.2 miles going to feel like? I'll get that answer in 8 weeks.

This morning, we were up to run in the Head for Cure 5K (defeating brain cancer) and were part of "Team Quiz.". My friend, Alysia, organized a team in honor of her dad, Dan Quisenberry. What an incredible event to be a part of! The moral was contagious and I always love to see thousands of people come together for such an important cause. When you see that many people come together, you know that a cure for brain cancer isn't far away. It was such beautiful morning, but running 3 miles after our long run yesterday was harder than I expected. The legs were definitely tender. However, all is put in perspective when you think about the reason you're running. Adam and I finished in 31:40 and then found a spot on the grass to cheer on some runners, especially those from Team Quiz. Alysia did an extraordinary job of bringing so many people together. It'll definitely be a race we're involved with for years to come.

Go Team Quiz!