Happy late Thanksgiving!

We drove to Albuquerque to spend Thanksgiving with my parents.

I tweaked my running schedule a little for the week so that I could do my “medium” run (7 miles) on Thanksgiving day to really feel like I EARNED my HUGE feast.

I was a little worried about what the runs in Albuquerque would be like since the altitude in Albuquerque is much higher (roughly 5300 feet). It really didn’t seem to have any affect at all on my medium run. Bella and I ran along the Tramway walking path, and it was gorgeous. The weather was pretty cold (37 degrees to start), but with the addition of ear warmers, I was perfectly comfortable in my normal running attire. The first half of the run was slightly uphill. This really had a positive impact on my pace because I think it helped me to warm up faster and obviously on the second half of the run (the downhill) I was FLYING! It was so fun. I think my overall pace was only slightly slower than Tulsa despite the altitude, and this was even with my walking warm up and cool down figured in!I also planned my long run for Saturday this week because we drove back to Phoenix on Sunday, and there wasn’t time for both my long run and the drive home.

The long run. . . I’m not sure where to begin. . . . I guess I’ll start by saying that I ran 16 miles. Wow. I am so happy! I was quite nervous for this run because it was 2.9 miles farther than I’ve ever run before, and that’s a pretty big jump in distance. It was partially my fault because I did the half marathon on the day that I was supposed to run 14 miles, so I kind of shorted myself on the mileage. I was sooo nervous that everytime someone in my family would ask me how far I had to run, I'd say, "don't ask" because I couldn't actually say the words "16 miles."

I set out on the run at about 8:20am, and it took me 5 hours. UGH. That’s a really long time and definitely not at a pace that I hope to repeat on future long runs. I was mentally really daunted by the distance. I couldn’t get out of my mind how FAR the 7 miles had seemed and that once I had completed 7 miles of the long run, that I was still less than half way there. I think I psyched myself out a little bit.

I started REALLY slowly and really just had a hard time ever picking up the pace. In some sense, I knew my pace would slow down with the longer distances, but all I could think about was that this is ALSO true for the marathon and that at this pace, I’m not going to “officially” finish the marathon. If it took me 5 hours to run 16 miles, it’ll be way over 7 hours when I finish the marathon. The only solace I take in this information is that I DO think that running the long distance at a high altitude had an affect on my pace. Also, 16 miles is the distance of my long run for the next two weeks so I will have an opportunity to improve on my preparation and approach over the course of the long run----and there’s a lot I think I can fine-tune. For example:

• I mistakenly only took one Gu yesterday. I needed at least two and despite the fact that I DID have some Gatorade along the way, I had a Gu at about 6 miles and could have REALLY used another one at 12 miles.
• I need to plan ahead a little better because I AGAIN had to make a bathroom stop on the long run. It isn’t so much the lost time for the stop that is annoying, it’s all the time I spend before I actually make the stop, worrying about the stop. I really hope I can figure out a way to not have to stop on marathon day.
• Eating a gigantic fat-filled Thanksgiving dinner and repeat leftovers the following day complete with desserts, probably did not help fill up my fuel take appropriately before the long run.

So, for the next two weeks I’m going to do as much as I can to improve on the long run.

I’m actually looking forward to trying again because there’s NO WAY it can be as hard as those 16 miles in Albuquerque. Mile 7 was the hardest mile I have ever ran. I was still really mentally daunted by the distance I had left, struggling to decide when, where and if I would make a bathroom break and I really struggled to even keep going. I tried to drop my arms, shake them out, relax my upper body and settle into a rhythm. I paused my Ipod so I could focus. I got through it and miles 8-12 went much more smoothly. Miles 12-16 were a blur of torture too. I didn’t enjoy them. I was starving and kinda dizzy and aware of every tenth of a mile and how slow they were passing. At one point I looked at a parked car and was convinced that it was rolling into me--I think I might have been a little delirious!

For a few miles on the run I chanted:

Why am I doing this? Cause I want to be healthy.
Why am I doing this? Cause I want to be strong.

It was very rhythmic and helped me to pass the time and focus on the good that comes from running. I just kind of created it out of no where but it seemed to really mesh with the pace of my steps.

The BEST part of doing a long run in Albuquerque was all of the amazing support I had! My whole family was so supportive and pumped up for my run! At the 1.5 hour mark, they met me with water and Gatorade! It was so fun. They also came and took Bella home after 8 miles. She had ran enough and I was sick of her pulling on the leash. Rick and my mom met me at about the 12 mile mark for a much needed water/Gatorade refill and then JUST as I was finishing 16 miles, my dad picked me up so I didn’t have to walk up the hill and back to the house. I was so thankful to not have to walk all the way up the steep hill. I could barely bend my legs my muscles were so tight at that point. It was not a pretty sight.

All I could think about the last two miles was how incredibly STUPID it is to spend 5 hours running. Most people run a whole marathon in less time than that. Why would I torture myself in that way and waste 2/3 of a day that I got to be in Albuquerque, why would I waste it running? After a shower and a sandwich, my outlook was a little bit brighter, but I still wonder a little bit, why I would do such a thing. Maybe its just too crazy to think that as heavy as I am that I can really take up running as a hobby and ever be half way decent at it. I’m not discouraged. That’s not the thing. Just having trouble answering the question WHY I would do such a crazy thing on such a beautiful day.

The one bright spot of the long run was that my body felt GREAT! Really no aches and pains to speak of and my legs were their usual tight and achy selves yesterday after the run, but today (the next day) they really don’t feel half bad.

So. . . . To wrap up this Thanksgiving-themed post, that’s what I’m thankful for this year. A body that despite all the abuse I have reaped upon it in my lifetime, has held up remarkably well during my training. I ran 32 miles this week! Only 4 long runs to go before the Marathon (not that I’m counting)!