Cramming Way Too Much Into Two Days

Seriously, my weekends need to be at least 4 days long. Two isn't ever enough to get any resting done. Sigh. Disclaimer: This is gonna be a long one.

Friday night, Jenna had a volleyball game. It was their first home game of the season, and they got their first win, and I missed it. :( I stayed home with the psycho crabby 3yo while John took the other 2 kids to watch. She was so excited when she got home! And I was super proud of her.

I took it easy and ate leftover spaghetti. I should have gotten everything ready for the morning, but I didn't. I was relatively calm about the whole thing, except for obsessively checking the weather...it was looking rather ominous. But I was hopeful, and went to bed early.

I woke up to thunderstorms, but after checking the radar, figured I'd drive out of it on the way there and I did. I had a little trouble figuring out exactly where I needed to be (missed my turn - oops) but still showed up 30 minutes early, which was a good thing since I parked well over a half a mile away. I hit the potty line, and as I was waiting, Kim called me. She spotted me right away, and after using the potty (with a flusher! super nice!) I made my way over to meet her! We chatted for a bit, and she introduced me to another blogger, Erin, and we grabbed a photo (all pics are courtesy of Kim).
Me, Kim and Erin, all ready for our inaugural 20 milers!

We were all in different waves, so we split up and got ready to go. I was in wave 10, which looked to be the only wave with NO PACER. Honestly, that didn't bother me at all, because I knew that there was no way I was going to be able to hang with this group the entire distance. As we were chatting in our wave, I picked out another runner, Greg, to hang with since he said he was doing a run / walk, which was my strategy going in. I realized quickly though that while running, he was much quicker than I, so told him I'd keep up as long as I could. I lasted for probably 8 miles before I fell behind enough that I could no longer catch up. He was great to talk to - he'd run several marathons and races so he had lots of stories - and it was nice to have the company.

The course was kind of divided in half - the first half we ran south form the start, and had 2 separate out and back loops in it. Kim snapped the above picks in these 2 loops. In the second, you can see the back half of Greg as I'm starting to lose him. Then we crossed by the start again, and the second half of the course we ran north, and it was one big out and back, so we finished where we started. The north half was where it started to get tough for me - the first half was perfect weather (although lots of bugs, especially for September!) and good company. I felt really strong for that first half.

After we passed the Elk around mile 10.5, I started looking for a bathroom. There were lots of them along the way - regular park bathrooms and port-a-potties too. I found one around mile 11 or so, and stood outside it for a few minutes before realizing that it was locked for real, not because someone was using it. Damn. It was another mile before I found an open one, but I lost a bunch of time there. No problem, and I was still feeling ok, just tired.

But the skies were looking bad. I kept hoping it'd hold off, or clear up again, but no. Around mile 12.5 or so, the skies unleashed. It was kind of scary for a bit, with some impressive lightening and lots of thunder. And it POURED. This is where my brain took me out. I wasn't to the final turn around yet, and saw all kinds of people heading back. The speedsters were of course already finished (oh to be that quick!) and I kept thinking, "17 is good - just turn around now! It isn't a race - no one cares but YOU if you put in all 20!" But I knew I would know. I knew I had to do it right. I kept trudging along, not going very fast, but I was still going.

At mile 14.45 my iPod crapped out. So now, I had to run uncharted territory, with no company, and no music. Shit. Until then, I was handling it. I was still in it. I was doing ok. But after that? Well, it wasn't pretty. And I hadn't even found the turnaround.

Once I DID turn back, it was really really desolate. I felt like the last one out there - really alone. That was HARD! Thank god for the amazing volunteers and the aid stations! There were so many, and those volunteers were still out there getting rained on. I kept telling myself that the only way out of this was THROUGH it. I walked SO MUCH during that last few miles, but I kept on. There may have been a few minor meltdowns with a couple of tears. But then I'd get pissed at myself and "suck it up buttercup!" would start flowing like a mantra.

At almost mile 19, I got a call from Kim! (that was exciting both that she was checking on me and also that MY PHONE WORKED...I was a bit nervous about that). She wanted to know where I was and if I was ok. I assured her that I was getting there, and she said she'd wait for me. That was what I needed to get me running again. I came around the corner near the Elk again, and there she was waiting for me! It was such a boost seeing her.
It had finally stopped raining, but I was soaked to the skin and getting really cold. Kim ran the rest of the way with me and gently tried to get my ass moving when I looked up the last little hill and said, "HELL NO!" And then I was done! As sucky as it was it was such an accomplishment! I knew, I KNOW, that barring some catastrophic injury, I'll finish Chicago.

Stats? - Finished the first 14.45 miles in 3:00:12 for a 12:27 pace (that's with the potty stops in there too). I know this because my iPod came back to life. YAY!!! I started at 7:15 and was texting my mom and husband at 11:45, so giving myself 5 minutes to eat and drink and chat with Kim, I figured the last 5.55 miles in 1:25 or so for a FANTASTIC average pace of 15:18. Lovely. But overall? 20 miles in 4:25 is an average pace of 13:25. Not entirely horrible, and it gives me more than 2 hours to finish Chicago before the cutoff of 6:30. I SO got this. All I want is to finish on time.

Kim and I hung for a bit, I got a little food, and then we headed out. We were both cold and wrinkly and wet. I left her at her car and headed towards mine, already dreading the ride home. I should have changed my clothes, but my car was too far away to want to go back, and there weren't enough cars left to provide cover (yet another reason to GET FASTER) so I ditched my shoes, peeled off my socks, took a picture of the bottom of my foot for posterity (but I'll spare you that), put on dry socks and made for home. I had the heat cranked to 85 degrees and never got warm. That made getting into my ice bath (which my lovely husband prepped for me) pure hell, but it actually felt good once I got in.

I spent the rest of the day chilling with my family. I wore my 20 miler shirt and pajama bottoms. We got burritos. I crashed by 9pm. Not very exciting, but that was just what I wanted.

I woke up Sunday (6:30 - James don't you love me??!?) stiff and sore, but I knew I just needed to start moving and I'd feel better. After a lazy breakfast, I headed to the store to find some flat pretty shoes. I was successful, but not in love, so I ended up wearing a pair I already had for the wedding, and the 1.5 inch heal actually took some of the pressure off my blister (which I DID end up draining) so all was good. The wedding was beautiful (of course!) and after they resolved a snafu at the reception in which we and 6 other guests had been left out of the seating plan (!!! - that was really uncomfortable for a minute) we had a lovely anniversary celebrating a NEW marriage.
They had a photobooth set up at the reception! They made 2 copies of all the pictures taken. We got to keep one, and one went right onto a scrapbook page where we got to write a message for the couple. It was super cute, and something I'd never seen done before. The kids did great with the babysitter, and now I need a break from my weekend.

Are you still reading? You're crazy? One last note - I feel really really good. I have 3 miles to get in today (hoping to squeeze it in once the kids get home from school) and then 7.5 tomorrow. I don't feel like I expected - like there's no way in hell! The only reason that I didn't get the 3 done this morning is because we were out too late and sleep won. So YAY! for feeling good post 20!