sorry, i lied..

well, i haven't lied to most of you, just not been completely honest.

This training has been WAY more difficult than i've let on. I was afraid that if I said it out loud i'd give in to the defeat I was feeling. My legs have been killing me. the stress fracture leg (left) has been surprisingly strong.. it's the right leg now. The 'hamstring tendonitis' didn't seem to be getting any better even with 2 weeks of rest and regular PT. The fact that it hurt just to walk around town was killing my motivation to even try to run.

Last thursday I went to see Michael for a PT session. We discussed the training schedule and I told him I was planning on running 12 miles on friday before i left for vegas. This was indeed the plan... i set out to run after work (and pre party) on friday and only managed to complete 3 miles. It was hot, my leg was sore and my mind was on the party taking place at my apartement in 4 hours. I was more than dissappointed with myself.

Vegas is a difficult place to run in.. late nights and tripple digit temps are all anti-motivators!

Thursday I woke up early and got a 3 mile run in on the treadmill plus 15 minutes on the eliptical machine before heading to the airport. Better than nothing i guess, but it was definitely not going to get me close to 26.2 miles. I was really seriously considering giving up on this marathon thing all together. I didn't voice this to anyone for fear of making it real, and people agreeing with me.

I decided I would give it one last shot on saturday morning. If i couldn't manage a good solid long run (10+) then i'd give up. I booked a last minute appointment to see michael on friday to get myself in good shape for saturday. He asked me how vegas was.. how the run on friday was.. how far i'd run.. my answers were 'great, good, and 12 miles!' two out of 3 were lies!!!

the group was planning a short run on saturday of only 6 miles. the said that if we were behind schedule we could run longer, but we'd mostly be on our own. I got to the park at 7:15am. I figured i'd start running alone and then finish up with the group. The plan was to run a full loop (6 miles) first, the second loop i'd cut across the 102nd trarnsverse (5 miles), then the final loop I'd cut across both transverses (4 miles) for a grand total of 15.

15 miles breaks every rule the coaches have been telling us.. only increase your long runs by 1-2 miles.. don't push yourself too hard.. etc.. but, if i was going to stay on this mission i had to prove to myself that i could do it.

the first 6 were a little tough. it took most of that time to loosen up my hamstring. but, i was not running too fast just wanted to get it done. outfitted with a new nike watch, i checked my time at the end of the first loop. i was running under 9 minute miles!! It didn't even feel fast! This gave me the boost i needed to get into the second loop. the park started filling up, and i started seeing some TNT'ers. Cap and Flash passed me twice, a little frustrating but i just used their smiles to push me along into the final loop.

BRUTAL!! my calfs were starting to burn and my fuel belt was chaffing my stomach ( have i mentioned i HATE fuel belts.. i'm trying to invent a new system before the marathon) and now my right quad was cramping or something.

After 2.5 hours I finally made it to the drink cart on the corner of the 72nd street transverse!!! an orange gatorade was my prize :) I was hoping the coaches would be around to share in my non-defeat, but they were all gone already. my big surprise was that roxy was on bag watch duty, and was being delayed by some other runners needing fundraising advice! She was excited to hear about my run, and of course asked 'did michael say you could run that far??!' ha, if michael had known, the answer most def would have been 'are you crazy?'

Yes, i am crazy.. and in desperate need of a massage.

miles run: 15
hours run: 2h 29m
money won in vegas: $136