Yes, it’s true. Almost every time I’ve set out to run anything over 16 miles, the run usually ends with me feeling like I’m going to die. Or at least feel like I’m going to pass out in the middle of the street.
Except for this past Saturday. This time, the stars were aligned and everything felt okay. Well except for the horrible blister I got on my right foot from wearing a cute pair of flats earlier in the week, but that’s not running related. And I may never, ever wear those shoes again. 🙂
We were starting our run at 4:30 AM, so I woke up at 3:15 AM and did some foam rolling and ate my favorite pre-long run breakfast: a toasted wheat bagel with peanut butter and banana slices. It was nice waking up with so much time, so I wasn’t rushing around the house like a mad woman. Well, except for the part when I remembered I needed to find some green earrings so I didn’t get pinched during our St Patty’s Day long run.
I met part of our group at 4:30 and off we went for a 10-mile jaunt. We would circle back around and pick up the rest of the group for the final 8 miles. This time I remembered to start my run with my IT band. And my borrowed Garmin.
This was the first long run where we had so many runners joining on the back half. I loved it. They were fresh and still had pep in their step, which kept me motivated. If you’re running with someone and they are only running a portion of your distance, I suggest you try meeting them for the back half of your run!
Along the back half, we came across some poor little kids and a dog that had been turned into statues by an evil witch. I had to stop and take a photo with them!
My group leader insists that these are merely replicas of the house owner’s niece and nephew, but I don’t know if I believe that. Poor kids.
Oh, and only in Florida (and some parts of Georgia) do you find energy sources decked out in camo:
Ha!
However, when my wonderful, but slightly evil group leaders tossed in some slight inclines (or “hills” as I say) in the last 3 miles of the run, I may or may not have started to say expletives. I’m sure that they would point out that the Flying Pig Marathon has hills and they were only doing me a favor by exposing me to them in our training run to which I’m sure I would respond with an eye roll too and a “Pfshh.” Nevertheless I do appreciate it now that it’s over and done with.
We restarted our watches after the first part of the run, so my stats are broken into parts. We are not the kind of runners that stop our watches each time one of us has to use the restroom, or wait to cross an intersection, so our paces are slightly faster then what’s reflected below. And by ‘slightly’ I mean hardly at all. 😉
Part 1
- Distance: 10.33 miles
- Time: 02:22:47
- Avg Pace: 13:49/mile
Part 2
- Distance: 8.38 miles
- Time: 01:57:50
- Avg Pace: 14:03/mile
TOTAL DISTANCE: 18.71 miles <– Wait! I was tricked into running more than 18?
After our run we celebrated with breakfast at Panera Bread. Rachelle brought this little piece of motivation to remind us what we’re working for:
Me posing with our Flying Pig Marathon motivation
Only one more long training run scheduled before race day!
Do you keep any items in plain view to motivate you? Generally I usually just hang my training schedule, but I think I want to find a little pig to put on my desk.
I Sweat Pretty 
The statues cracked me up so much! I have this weird thing about garden gnomes and convincing myself they’re going to come to life so I think I’d go with your interpretation!
I should print out a picture at me at my highest weight. It keeps me motivated to never, ever get back there again.
Interesting! I should print a picture of cake. This shall remind me of one of my favorite reasons to run: so I can eat cake!