First, just let me say NINE glorious hours of sleep!! I was in heaven this morning when I woke up! Little did I know what my body had in store for me... I had originally planned to back off on a long run this weekend and do my tri class at the rec center and just 8-10 miles total. With the past 2 days off I've been itching to not see my weekly miles in the 20s, so I changed plans. Thank goodness for beautiful, wonderful, inspirational Toby who was willing to put up with my whining for another week. Met Kim, Scott, Rob and Toby at the JRP and we headed South first to Bluffdale to get the 'bump' over with. I felt decent on the run and was having a good time just plugging along visiting. Even the way back felt okay - wind at our back and things were good. Only problem? We were only at mile 7. By mile 10 I was exhausted, it felt rather SGM-ish, plugging along all my mental energy to just put one foot in front of another. Crap, I was exhausted! I was breathing SUPER hard and could hardly talk while just pulling 9:30ish miles, what was wrong with me? Well, thanks to Toby I pushed through and turned around at mile 11 - only 4 left to get back to the car. Four is easy, stop in one mile and get a drink at Mulligans and gu and I can get through this. I did my best to stay mentally strong, but I think poor Toby was more than aware that I was ready to kill over at any given second. The last 3 miles I made us stop every mile so that I could just catch my breath and recover enough to go on. Toby's water belt and her good attitude saved me! Eyes could hardly focus, plodding along, head spinning, side aches, I just wanted to lay down and curl up in fetal position until someone came back to get me. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger! right? Well, I wasn't dead and I knew I had to get back to the car. Pushed through the last 1.15 without stopping and I was done. Hallelujah! I seriously have never felt so crappy, except during SGM this last year. I did it though. I didn't care if my AP was 12mm, I'd finished and that was the biggest plus for me! I wasn't dead, so I was stronger! After thinking about it, I THOUGHT that 2 days off (even with little/no sleep) would make this run amazing, but I forgot one thing...I've been with a sick baby. Just like before SGM, I think my body is fighting an internal battle I can't see or feel. No fever or anything (adults don't really get symptoms, but are carriers), but my body knows it is fighting hard and when I try to push myself through a long run like this I just fall apart. This is probably one reason why although I've done nothing but sit for the past 2 days I didn't feel like I WANTED to do anything. No walks, no nothing. I was fine just sitting around. My body is sick and fighting, it just can't tell me that. So, I push it hard and it pushes back by making me feel like death while I run. So, like I said - I'm not dead, so I must be stronger for this one! I was surprised our AP was as low as it was since I felt like I was dragging through mud the majority of the time. Faster than last week, but felt 10X harder! The best news is that even now my foot feels pretty darn stinkin' good. Not 100% for sure, but I'll take the 80% better it feels. I'm proud of myself for making it through this run and I'm SO grateful I had Toby to drag me along, I'm really not sure I would've made it otherwise - at least without crying :) Thanks Toby - I owe you, BIG time! AP: 9:15, splits: 8:50, 9:15, 9:33, 9:24, 9:12, 9:18, 9:04, 8:41, 9:04, 9:13, 9:22, 9:11, 9:44, 9:33, 9:23.
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