WooooooooooooHooooooooooooo, Ya Ya Ya Ya Ya, God Bless the U.S.A and My Running Legs, BaBam, I am Awesome! 21 miles!

Yes you read it right, my 20 mile run today turned into a 21 mile run! Don't be too impressed, I ran it kind of slow. 3 hours 37 minutes, 10:22 minute mile average, actually, yes, be impressed. I went 21 miles for crying out loud!! :) The thing that I have loved about training for this marathon is that I am constantly amazing myself, today being no exception. Let me start from the beginning.

I met my friend Carla at 7 this morning and we took her car 7 miles down the Orting trail, parked it and went back to the hometown to start. I had my capris on and then decided to change into my skirt since that is what I was thinking of wearing in the actual marathon. It was a little cold, but I didn't mind. We got going and I felt great right from the beginning! We were doing 10 minute miles. (I stopped at mile 4 to uses the facilities and put my iPod under my sleeve. Rain, but not too bad) I felt a little tired at mile 5, so I took a gel pack. We met up with my sister in law Lindsay at mile 7. I said good bye to Carla and welcomed Lindsay. I started running slower because Lindsay's pace is a little slower than mine, by about a minute. At mile 11.75 my stomach felt a little hungry. So I took another gel pack. We had gone out three miles and then turned around, so we got back to her car at mile 13 for me. I took 600 milligrams of ibuprofen and pushed on. I knew we couldn't stop for long because I was cramping up. After that I told Lindser I was going to push ahead a little lit but would not get too far ahead before coming back to her. This was working well and then I looked back and she was walking. (She doesn't have a fuel belt) So I ran back to her and discovered that she was so hot she felt like she was going to pass out! She was wearing under armour on the top and the bottom. I told her to stip down right on that trail, next to the road and take off that under armour top. So I held her hat, watch, and ipod and had her T-shirt ready to put on quick while she took off the under armour top. It was kind of funny. I gave her a water bottle and the problem was solved! I was still feeling really good. When we got back to the spot where I used the bathroom, sure enough, Carla's dropped water bottle was still there! (Mile 16ish)I ran it back to Lindsay and continued on my way. I kept making sure I didn't lose sight of Lindsay, and if I did, I immediately turned around to go back to find her. At mile 18 I took another gel pack. Doing this made me realize I was HUNGRY!! You know like when you don't know you're hungry and then you eat something and think, holy cow I'm hungry. That is exactly what happened. So at mile 19 I ate a pack of lunar moons. Basically they are suppose to be like a gel pack, but they are gummies, kind of like gum drops. They were good too. I was still feeling good, especially after eating the gel pack and moons. I was PUMPED when I hit mile 20! (3 hours 27 minutes) I made a big scene throwing my arms up in the air! However I was not at the start. I had picked up some extra mileage checking on Lindser. I was feeling really good, so I kept going. I didn't want to walk a mile back to my car. (I wasn't really sure how far it was at the time.) When I could see my car, I was at 20.8 miles. I was too close to not make it an even 21 miles. So I just went until I hit 21 and then stopped and walked. I was sooooooo excited to be done and so proud of myself. Once again I felt a little overwhelmed by emotion. My eyes watered a tiny, but no tear drops or anything. I couldn't believe I had just run 21 miles and I actually felt pretty dang good. I was tired, of course, but my knees felt good, my hips felt good. What a relief. At that moment, I KNEW that I could do this marathon!! I have complete confidence in myself now. The only thing that bothered my while running was the balls of my feet. All that pound pound on the ground was taking it's toll, but nothing too bad, just annoying. Overall, I felt great. I amazed myself today!!


Look out SLC, here I come, and I am ready!!!!!!


P.S. After the run I went to Farelli's and got a full size order of cheesy bread sticks with ranch and marinara sauce. I ate 2/3 of that baby loaded up with ranch. It was like one part bread stick, two parts ranch. Then I got home and took a two hour nap. I'm feeling it now. I got out of bed and my legs were like lead. They didn't want to move. My muscles are a little tight everywhere and my hip is hurting somewhat. But still, that's pretty darn good. I ran 21 miles today!!!! Go me. (I think I'm finally done bragging.) :)

P.S.S. A special thanks to Carla and Lindser for making this a great run. I couldn't have done it without you!

P.S.S. I just want to note that all week I had told myself this was going to be a great run. And it was. Never underestimate the power of the mind!