My Most Amazing Run Ever!

The alarm sounds, it's 4am. I hit snooze, just a few minutes more. 4:09, snooze. 4:17, it's time to get rolling, many miles lie ahead just waiting to be covered.

Irfan and I begin our rituals. The first stop, scale. It's important to have an idea of how much weight is lost on the long runs so you can be sure to refuel enough at the end. I weigh in and am happy to see that I've put on about 1.5 pounds. It seems necessary to have a really good long run. Your body needs fuel for 3+ hours of running. Next, it's time to put on my running skirt and top, no shirt. It's too hot. I like to be as naked as possible. If I could run completely naked, I would. I take my time stretching for about 15 minutes. If I skimp on this, the run starts off badly and getting started is one of the hardest parts of it all. I can't afford to skimp. Trip to the bathroom. Fill-up on liquids, not me, but the bottles. I fill my four 8-oz. bottles, 3 with gatorade, 1 with water. I pack my pouch on my fuel belt, contents: student ID, condo keys, $3.75, 1 paper towel, 1 raspberry cliff shot, 1 vanilla cliff shot. The pouch barely closes. Another trip to the bathroom. Put on my shoes, then my belt. Humm, maybe one last trip to the bathroom. You may wonder how many times one can make use of such facilities in 1 hour. If you're running long distance, a lot. Finally, I put my belt back on, I think I'm ready, finally. Oh, grab my gps watch a Garmin 305 Forerunner. Now it's out the door and to the start.

5:05am on the sidewalk in front of our condo; the tide is too high on the beach. The sun won't rise for another hour and a half, by then, I'll be almost 9 miles into my run. I learned a valuable lesson last week on my 16 mile run. I started at 5:50am, and by mile 14, the sun was so hot and the air so still, it was almost too hard to run. I had to start earlier.

Today, the air is cooler at 74 degrees. Shortly after the sun rises, it will be 80. I press start on my watch and I'm off moving at a rather brisk pace. Irfan takes off and I chase after him, knowing he'll be out of sight in only a few moments. The sidewalks line the street rising and falling with the shops. I venture to the road, there are no cars. I pass a family walking, where could they possibly be headed at 5am?

I complete the first mile in just over 9 minutes, not too far behind Irfan. I reach the top of the bridge and pass a tall scruffy looking man walking up, I continue. Ahead I see Irfan who waits to be sure I pass the man uninterrupted. We continue in the dark with only an occasional car.

I'm keeping good pace and only slow around mile 4 to take my first gu shot (vanilla). What's gu? It's a high concentration carbohydrate sodium mixture to help keep energy high over long duration exercise. Previously I had tried gu only 2 other times. The nice people at the running store who have provided good general guidance on a few things informed me that taking gu was not so easy in the beginning. I had been told it was hard on your stomach and didn't taste very good, so to try to adapt to it, mix it with water. On my first 8 mile run, I did that. And immediately after, my gag reflex set in. I stopped running, doubled over and hoped the feeling would pass. I didn't have any more gu that day. On a later run, I took the rest of the gu-water mixture and drank it just fine. Don't get me wrong, it tasted horrible, they weren't joking, but I managed to get it down.

This was my first time taking the gu straight. I struggled with the packaging and eventually managed to rip a small hole where I could squeeze it out. I squeezed more than half into my mouth. I was so thick and gooey. I don't even know that I've had anything to equate it to. It's a very unique texture. I hold it in my mouth and finally swallow. My mouth is still gooey. I take a nice big gulp of water to wash it down, then I finish off the packet followed by some more water. It really wasn't that bad. I kept wondering why everyone made such a big deal about it. Oh well. I find a trash can at taco bell and discard the packet.

I'm still within eye shot of Irfan, barely. I'm running on the road (actually the parking lane) and he's on the sidewalk. Every once in a while, he ventures to the road to get a clear look back at me. Yep, I'm still here, still plugging away. We are passed by a few cars and motorcycles. On a park bench was a homeless man slumped over sleeping.

After the gu, I begin to feel amazing. I think I finally reached 'flow'. As described in my training book, it's like feeling almost weightless and running seems near effortless. I sit back and just enjoy how easy the running is. I see sprinklers watering a parking lot. I don't think they are going to get more parking spaces by watering it, but none-the-less, they continue watering. I think it's a great opportunity. One of the sprinklers looks broken and it appears more like isolated rain. I venture off the road for a brief shower and laugh as I feel so child-like running though the water. My glasses are covered and seeing is difficult. Oh well, it will dry.

Finally our route turns and I think I saw Irfan round the corner, then another as I continue the chase. I see he's 100-200 yards ahead. I'm relaxed and feeling well. The cooler morning has really helped although the sun is starting to rise. I see I'm closing in on Irfan. I pick up the pace since I'm feeling so great. I'm very focused on my breathing and my stride, always keeping my arms low and loose. At last around mile 8 I'm only a few yards behind and I yell for Irfan to change his route. He was nearing the turn off and I was going to be going on alone. He was shocked to see me. He asked if I had sprinted to catch up. No! I'm just moving so well. He usually runs 1-2 minutes faster than me per mile! For me to have caught him, he must have been having a bad day and/or I was having a good day. It doesn't matter though. For the first time in our training we ran together, each at a comfortable pace.

He changed his route to run with me; we ran side-by-side for the next 4 miles. It was really nice to have his company, but now it was time for me to turn back. He was running 15 miles while I was running 18. I finished the first 12 miles at an average pace of 10:26 min/mile. I was at my scheduled water stop. My belt holds 32 oz. not enough to finish all 18 miles. I stop at a park that has a restroom and soda machines. I put in $1.25 and get 20 oz of cold water. It feels GREAT! I refill 2 of my bottles and drink the rest. I take a third gu. Luckily for me, Irfan brought one that he wasn't going to use, so he gave me his. What a nice guy :)

I start running again and am not feeling so well. Too much water and probably too much gu. I push on, but finally I have to walk for a minute to try and let my stomach settle. I make it over my 3rd bridge and I'm back on the street where I caught up with Irfan. I smile and push ahead. My overall energy level is waning. I cross over the last bridge, it's more like a small bump in the road at this point. I approach the intersection where I parted ways with Irfan and prayed that the light would turn red so I could cross without stopping, and it did. I celebrated to myself and headed down the ramp to the beach.

Once I reach the beach, I know I'm on the final stretch. By now the sun is high in the sky and I'm rapidly approaching 15 miles. I flash back to last week at this time. It was around mile 14 when I learned that I too suffer, like most female distance runners, from extreme bloating and cramps on long runs. The pain became so intense I thought my intestines were going to fall out. I could no longer run. I would double over in pain occasionally and look frantically for a bathroom, but there are none on the beach. I would hobble a few minutes and then walk, hobble and walk. Finally I got home and laid on the floor curled up, in too much pain to move. Somehow, I eventually pulled myself from the floor and went to the restroom. I did feel better. The solution, as given repeatedly online is a quick does of imodium before a long run.

Today, it had done the trick. By mile 15 the only thing that hurt was my right knee which has never fully healed since before my half marathon more than 1 month ago. The pain came on slowly and I pushed on until it was screaming. When the pain shot through, I finally walked then hobbled, but quickly walked again. My pace was really good, why did this have to happen now I wondered to myself. I obsessively watched my time. I wanted to finish with a sub-11 pace. I wanted it badly. So after a little more than a mile of hobbling, with 1 mile to go, I ran. By this time in my training I know there are going to be times of discomfort, but I also know that running is no longer a matter of physical endurance, it's mental endurance. This was not about the physical pain, it was mental now and I had to get past it. I started slow for the mile and tried to maintain a constant pace. I set visual targets to get me through, but after 0.35 miles, I needed a break. I walked. I took one last glance at my watch and new if I wanted to make my time goal, I had to run. I ran.

Not only did I run, I ran the last quarter a mile at just over a 9-minute mile. So after 18 miles, I still had it in me to run hard and to finish and oddly enough, my knee quit hurting. I will take this lesson with me on my last 2 long runs and eventually to the finish line in San Francisco.

Despite the pain, this was an amazing run. At the finish, like I do each week, I throw my hands into the air and celebrate. Today, a lady and her husband were walking by watching me when I finished and as I celebrated they smiled. It was almost 8:30am and they had no idea I had come so far. I finished in 3 hours 17 min 45 sec, a pace of 10:58 (including my 5 min water stop). I met my goal!