It’s amazing what you can think about when you are running by yourself for over and hour with no music. On Thursday, I finally did the 8 mile run that I had missed the previous weekend, after the great 5 mile run I had on Wednesday. I still wasn’t feeling well on Thursday, but in order to have confidence for the 10 mile run Saturday, I got my butt out of the house and attempted the 8 mile run. I did the same course that I had done for the 5 mile hill run the night before, and added 3 additional miles to it. Actually, it was 3.5 miles. It was a great run, which again, is so bizarre because I hadn’t been feeling great! So, like I said, I realized some of the outrageous things that I think about when I’m forced to be in my own head for a considerable amount of time. I started to comparing running/training for a marathon to be like being in a relationship. I know, this is not such an original thought, as I think it was Nike, or New Balance that had those commercials a few months back pretty much talking about the same thing. Anyways, I was thinking that when you are running just to run, it’s not such a burden and it’s fun and it makes you feel so great, but then, when you commit to a race, ie a marathon, it’s all of a sudden this overwhelming sense of obligation and almost like a burden. Sometimes you enjoy it, but other times, you see all you friends going out on a Friday night having a great time, and you are stuck doing nothing. Kind of like a relationship—you complain when you’re not in one, then the minute you are, you are jealous of your single friends out having fun. I then started to think that the actually running part is definitely the girl of the relationship. If you skip a run, you feel guilty. If you have a bad run, you feel like crap.
Anyways, there was more to my thoughts, I think it kept me entertained for a good 2 miles at least. Maybe it was more funny to me at the time, but whatever, this blog is all about sharing.
On Saturday morning we all met the group in DC down at Rock Creek Park. On weekend mornings, Rock Creek Parkway is closed in the morning hours to traffic, making it a great haven for runners and bikers. It was not as cold as it had been in the District, but definitely not tropical weather. We started out on the course at 8am to begin our 10 miles. Shortly into the run, we all realized that it was going to be an entirely uphill incline, which you know makes us all so happy. A group of us started out together, but eventually I was running with this kid Brian who I had run the 6 miles with two weeks before. We chatted a bit, and then mustered through the GIANT hill that came at mile 4. He is a lot of fun to run with, and he and I cheer on everyone that passes by, which is cool. After the hill portion, we turned around to go back to the start, thinking that we were halfway through, but then we started seeing some of the ‘Kenyons’ as we call them, running back towards us. Our hearts were a little diminished as we remembered we had to run back to the water stop, then turn around and go for another mile, before we could do the final turnaround to the start. I know, that made no sense, but the fact is that basically, we thought we were further into the run then we actually were. I thought Brian was going to cry when he realized it. We promised to keep one another’s spirits up, so that is what we did. Until he started talking about having eggs for breakfast and I told him to shut his mouth about food unless he wanted to see me vomit everywhere. I had tried a new breakfast that morning, Eggo waffles with blueberries and it wasn’t exactly sitting so well in my stomach, I will spare you those details. At mile 5 there was a water stop, so we took the opportunity to stop for a moment, have a cup of water and I did my first GU of the season. After a moment, we were back on our way and we had another runner to join us, Kristin. Brian enjoyed his first GU ever, which was quite the experience. First he couldn’t get it open, and I had to help him—I felt like a mom in the school lunchroom who had to help the kids open up the Capri suns---and then he gulped it down like a champ. We all chatted the rest of the way, talking about GU, how pretty the run was—which it was completely. It didn’t feel like we were in a city at all, the trail was filled with waterfalls and trees, and then with the temperature almost perfect, we all kept saying it was a great day to be out and running. The rest of the way, we entertained one another with movie quotes, talking about engorging ourselves with food after the run because well, we can, and then singing 80’s song lyrics. I actually had a blast with them! The run ended and we all high fived and pretty much proclaimed our love for one another as we were punch drunk on the runner’s high. We also laughed because we were saying how it’s crazy that just five minutes before during the run we wanted to die, but then now we felt incredible. I talked with the trainer that was there, because my IT band in my knee was bothering me. He helped me stretch it out and taught me a few strengthening exercises to do to make it feel better. After a bit of stretching and eating some of the lovely buffet spread that TNT provided, I was on my way.
On Saturday night, the Team Captains went to the Legwarmer’s concert. It’s an 80’s cover band down here that is ridiculously popular. We all got dressed up in our outrageous 80’s costumes and were danced for 3 hours straight to the best 80’s songs you could imagine. Some of the pictures are clearly above—as embarrassing as they are, I had to post them. These kids are fantastic and definitely know how to balance the training with fun times.
Until next time…….
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