Well this last week of my serious long runs went out with a bang! 22 miles on Sunday and I can still live to tell the tale. I was feeling a bit nervous but overall confident in the run. I had done two full twenty's and one split twenty so I knew that I could do that distance. I just had to run two more miles. Of course it didn't help that the forecast called for rain all day yesterday and rain it did. From the moment I left the house till I got back it rained for the entire run. I usually like running in the rain but this was a bit much. I was, however, very appreciative that there was no sun and at least the clouds would provide me some relief from the heat.
Even with the rain I was able to beat my half marathon time by four minutes which was SWEET! All in all I was feeling good and really didn't mind the rain until... mile sixteen. I'm not sure what happened but my mental strength was starting to weaken. I was able to maintain my pace but it was a bit of a struggle. For this run I wanted to mimic what I would do during the race as much as I could. I tried to run at my goal pace for entire run but I started floundering around mile eighteen. Once I got to eighteen miles I took the rest of the run in bite sized pieces. I told myself just get to mile twenty. Only two more miles to mile twenty, you can do that. My pace started slowing down but I told myself at that point that speed was not important, all I needed to focus on was finishing.
I got to mile twenty and felt excited because two miles was all that remained. I took a brief pause and collected my thoughts. By this point I was soaked to the bone and a bit cold. It felt as if I was running with a weight vest on with all the water that collected in my clothes, shoes AND hair. Yeah I have looong locks so when water collects in my hair it can seriously add about two to three more pounds.Once I got myself together I got back to running. My legs and knees weren't feeling too bad but I could feel the ache with each step. By mile twenty one I had to got to the bathroom, BAD! So that motivated me even more to finish.
Finally I finished my run. 22 miles in three hours and twenty eight minutes. I did it! And now I couldn't walk. I finished my run right at the entrance of my subdivision and still had to walk to my house which is in the back. I wanted to cry. In fact I think I did for a bit. I looked around for a bench to sit on thinking I had seen some people in the neighborhood sit at the front of the complex but there were no benches. So I started walking. You know, when you're running and your body is working all of the aches and pains feel minor but the minute you stop running everything hits you all at once. Suddenly my legs felt like lead. I couldn't believe how difficult it was to walk. My pinkie toes on both feet were aching horribly. I thought that once I took my socks off that my toe nails would just fall off. I decided to take my sneakers off and walk in my socks.
It was still raining and cool. The puddles provided some slight relief to my feet as I walked through them. A couple of times I contemplated calling my wife to have her come pick me up from whatever spot I decided to stop at. Then I realized that was stupid because I see my house and just needed to keep walking. I had to laugh at myself for a bit because my walk was a combination between George Jefferson and Red Fox. I could have been mistaken for an old man. Once I got to my door I completely shut down. I sat by the front door, took off my socks, my hat and my fuel belt. My calves were screaming at me. I was hoping that someone in the house saw me walking towards to door and would open it but everyone was upstairs. I got in the house and laid on the rug in my living room. Everything hurt. I didn't want to move and I didn't want to talk. After a couple of minutes of lying on the floor I got up and made my way to the stairs. The damn, evil, why do we live in a two story house, stairs. I started crawling up the stairs and shouted to let everyone know I was home.
After I got up the stairs I got all my wet running clothes off towel dried myself and took a minute to lie down with my feet propped up. I wasn't sure if this was the right thing to do but it felt great. All the blood that was pooled in my legs was starting to circulate back through my body. Now I could start the healing process, stretching, cold water for my muscles and a light massage. I camped out in my teenage daughters room watching television with my feet propped up. I don't have a t.v. in my room but I think we'll be getting one now for days like these. After about an hour or two I was able to feel like a human being again. I could even go down the stairs without looking like Penguin from Batman. I had some hot tea, foam rolled my muscles a bit just kept moving around the house.
I was amazed that two extra miles (and some crappy weather) could have such a huge impact on my run and recovery. And to think... the marathon is 4.2 more miles!
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