It's Bittersweet

I did another long run yesterday. Surprise, surprise. It's strange to look over my log for the past 3 weeks and realize I've done at least a half marathon a week.

On the one hand, I am really excited about it. I remember coming home one day several months ago almost in tears telling Marisa I didn't think I would ever be able to run again. It just wasn't working. And now I do a half marathon every weekend. But the kicker is that I am down to just over a month and I am not at the distance I need to be and my window to get there is closing.

Yesterday I ran 14.4 miles. It was my farthest run in my entire life. And yes, I ran it all save for 2 quick walk breaks up the last of what wound up being 8 hills. My course is hilly by design to get me used to the hills of Boston, but this last one (Nellie, if you are a long time reader) and I have a long history and she always seems to thwart me a little more than I like. So 14.4 miles. At mile 7, my right knee hurt. Sharp pain right where I often get it. And my brain thought I would be quitting early again but I decided to just not think about it and try and shorten my stride a little and take my time and eventually it worked itself out. Thank god.

I hit Prospect Park at mile 12-ish and felt like I could keep this up for a while yet... it was becoming, if I didn't think about it, just background. It's a strange thing when that happens... I had been running so long (about 2 hrs) that my legs were just used to it... if I stopped thinking "OMG... I AM STILL RUNNING?!?!" then it would just keep going. Except at mile 13ish, my calves started to cramp and the remainder was a little bit of a battle to keep going all the way home. No more adding on additional miles, I just needed to get home. So I did.

I've had a lot of setbacks in this journey. Truth is, I have managed to overcome them all, but the whittling down of time isn't one I can fix. It dawned on me what I think the muscle cramps in my calves were all about. Salt. I am not sure where I originally came up with the idea, but as I was walking in the door, I just knew what it was. It was salt. I must have read it somewhere or heard it on a running podcast (ahem: Phedippidations) or something, but I knew. I came in the door, popped a little salt into me and stretched. So for the next long run, in addition to bringing my water and bringing my shot-bloks, now I need to take some salt tabs with me. In addition, now I need to get a bigger fuel belt because I finished all the water I brought with me. So I think with that little change for next week, I should be able to get up to around 17 miles. (fingers crossed) I was telling Marisa last night that I kind of feel like I need to do another marathon just to prove to myself that with enough time, I could actually do it really well. But the reality is, with time ticking down, its going to be less than I really want it to be. And maybe that's the point of a first marathon.

I have until May to decide if I want to take the entry I earned for the NYC Marathon 2007 and reapply it for 2008. When the notice came in about the deadline to do that, it was a few weeks ago and I was in the midst of struggling with the 5-6 mile distance. I remember my response being somewhat along the "hell no" lines, but leaving it to decide after Boston. I remember thinking with the NYC Triathlon when I signed up for it and was exhausted from all the training, that this was going to be a one shot deal. And it wasn't. Because I wound up loving it and was barely across the finish line before I was ready to sign up for the next one. So there is a part of me that expects to feel the same way. And maybe with Marathon #2, I can feel like I have worked it all out. But I am getting very far ahead of myself. I have to get through the next month and a few days and see where it goes from there.

So that's where things stand now. Longest run to date down, but not quite enough to feel like I am where I need to be. A few more lessons learned along the way that will help me in long races in the future (like when I finally do my half ironman). And there it is. So have a good week, all. I wish I could post more on the road. I haven't figured out the internet access stuff yet. The craptacular hotel and the client blocking a lot of web traffic makes for a bit of a dead zone. But c'est la vie. More next weekend.