This week I hit the peak of my training....my last long run of 20.5 miles! The e-mails between 6 of my teammates started early this week when we received our bib numbers (I'm number 19,937). The topic then changed to carbo loading and what to wear on Saturday.....the entire time there was a feeling of nervous excitement that came with each e-mail.
I got up at 5:30 am on Saturday morning, got dressed, and had my ritual pre-long run breakfast (english muffin with peanut butter and a banana). We met at FitCorp where there was much discussion in the locker room about appropriate clothing for the day....shorts or pants, thin shirt or thick shirt?? After deciding on shorts, we headed out and were loaded onto 4 school buses. We started the ride out to Framingham, where we were being dropped off at the 7 mile mark of the course.
Janette, Steph, and I started out together on our long run back into Boston. As always, our energy pushed us to start off too fast and we had to consciously slow our pace down (something I never thought I would have to do!!) After a few miles we settled into a comfortable pace and started chatting. Surprisingly, the conversation never stopped for the entire 20.5 miles! Each of the charities sponsored a water/Gatorade/snack stop along the course. We stopped, refueled, chatted with the other people, and even got our pictures taken a few times.
We turned the corner onto Comm Ave and the hills started. All three of us seem to have a similar mentality about how to handle the hills.....run up them as fast as you can so that they are over quickly!! After summiting Heartbreak Hill and coming past Boston College, I saw Bryan waiting to cheer us on....he put a big smile on my face when I saw him! He ran with us for a couple blocks and brought us gummy worms (my favorite run snack!) and told us we looked strong. He said goodbye at Clevland Circle and the three of us continued on through Brookline.
We got into the Back Bay and had about 2 miles left. Steph started singing the Rocky theme song to help push us those last few miles. This turned into a game of name that tune with each of us singing lines from songs that motivate us.....the Jersey girl in me rocked out with Bon Jovi's "Livin on a Prayer!" With Beacon Hill in our sights, we knew we were almost finished....this hill was at the 20 mile mark in our run which is exactly were Heartbreak is on the marathon course. I knew that if I could make it up this hill strong, then I would be able to get up Heartbreak on marathon day. With 3 of the biggest smiles I have ever seen on our faces, we pushed up that hill with so much energy. Steph yelled out to the people on the sidewalk "We just ran all the way from FRAMINGHAM!!!!" and they gave us a cheer!
All I can say is WOW.....the feeling I got after finishing this run was something I had never felt before. It was a true runner's high! My legs were definitely happy to be done running, but I felt like I had a few more miles in me if I had to. Let's hope that feeling is there on Marathon Monday. Back inside the gym, there were bodies laying everywhere.....all were exhausted and elated at the same time. We shared stories about how each of our runs went......most people couldn't believe that we talked and sang the entire time -- all 3 hours and 15 minutes!!
I went home, talked Bryan's ear off about the run, sat in a painful ice bath, indulged in a burger, french fries, beer and ice cream, and crashed on the couch early......the whole time I don't think the smile left my face once! Throughout the day I would randomly say "I can't believe I just ran 20 miles!!" I don't think I really believed it....if this run felt that amazing to have completed, I can't even begin to imagine what it will feel like on marathon day!
22 more days until I find out.......... :)
No comments:
Post a Comment