The ups and downs of my 16 miler

Yesterday I joined my team for our longest run to date -- a 16 miler. As we left the gym and headed down Beacon Hill, I was feeling good. There was the cutest family standing in their doorway clapping and cheering for us as we pasted through the Back Bay....it put a smile on all our faces :)

We hit 6 miles and started going up the hill behind Boston College.....this is when I started feeling down. I had a side stitch that was coming and going for a good couple miles. I thought to myself "how the heck am I going to make it through this run if I feel this bad at the 6 mile mark?!?!?" But really I had no choice.....if I stopped to walk some I would lose Janette, which would mean running the rest of the way by myself. That thought alone made me push through the pain and eventually the cramp went away.

The next couple miles were fairly flat and I started to get into the grove. We soon turned onto Comm Ave. and all I could think about was having to make it up Heartbreak Hill. Seeing the hill in the distance, we passed a man slowly moving down the sidewalk in his wheel chair. Looking at him made me realize that I should be thankful for the ability to be out there running on such a beautiful morning and both my spirits and my legs started moving up Heartbreak.

Coming back through Brookline is probably my favorite part of the run -- with less than 5 miles left and the major hills out of the way (I always try to forget about Beacon Hill at the end) I know at this point that I can make it through this run. With about a mile left I had to stop to tie my shoe. Bending down, I realized for the first time just how much of a beating my body was taking. Luckily, I was able to will my legs back up and moving again. We finished the run in 2 hours and 32 minutes -- plus we realized later that the run was actually 16.5 miles!!!

This was the first time that I saw how mental this experience can be. In the past, I relied solely on my legs to get me through the runs. On this run I realized that its going to take a lot more than my legs to get me to the finish line. I need my head, my legs, and most importantly my heart to carry me the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boston.

So as I literally ran up and down the hills, I got to experience the mental ups and downs of this crazy marathon journey! I am a little sore today and can't really sit for too long in one position without getting stiff, but I am already starting to forget about the downs of this run and looking forward to the ups of our 18 miler!!