I did it!

Whew! 20 miles is a long way to run, but Irfan and I did it!

After the failed attempt on Friday, Sunday turned out to be a winner. That's a relative statement. Maybe winner isn't quite the right word. Yes I finished, but it was a struggle from the beginning.

The alarm sounded at 4am for the 3rd day in a row. I think my mental preparation for this long run was already exhausted. I've learned that when you mentally prepare for these long runs, running them on schedule helps, a lot. Everyday it's postponed means you are that much less likely to actually complete the original mileage.

We had a little bit of a late start, 5:20am, and so the sun was up just a little over 1 hour into the run. I lost/dropped a gu within the first 3 miles so was going to be one short, but thankfully, the guy at the runnning store told me to always take an extra, so I was fine. It was hot and humid, but it seems to always be that way. By mile 3 I was already drenched. It was bound to be a long day and it was every bit of that.

Part way into my run when a car would pass from the opposite direction I would raise my arms up to cheer and the drivers were nice, they did the same. So there for a small stretch I found a few strangers to cheer me on. It was nice. I need all the help and motivation I can find on a run like this.

When crossing the 4th and final bridge of the day I was at mile 16.5 and a nice fisherman said good morning and told me he runs in the evenings. I told him what mile we were on and that we were going for 20 and he yelled to me as I passed "16.5 Miles! You must be crazy!". "Yep!" I replied, I am crazy.

I plug along, one foot in front of the other, just trying to pass the time and more importantly, the miles. As I neared the end I came across a couple that was walking and taking up the sidewalk. I ran up behind them and walked for only a few seconds. They let me pass and I told them I was at mile 19.5, only 0.5 more to go. The man replied, "You're running 20 miles!". "Yep!". He responded "God bless you" with a very bewildered look on his face and I ran on finishing the last of my 20 miles.

I'm greatful to have finished with very little pain. My knees were in good shape and overall I felt great. My legs from the knee down though did ache, but what would one expect who just spent 3 hr 40+ min running. Just go and walk for that long and let me know how your feet feel. Everything was a little sore, but no injuries.

After streching for a bit it was time for an ice bath. I had bagged 2 bags of ice each for Irfan and I. I ran the water in the tub on as cold as it would go and sat down in it as it filled. Once filled to my knees, I dumped by 2 bags of ice in and sat for 10 minutes. I'm sure this sounds horrible to you, but it felt great! I was almost sad my time was up. I wished I'd had more ice to make it colder. The purpose of the ice bath is to reduce swelling from the trauma of the really long runs which helps speed recovery. I do think it helped.

Around the corner is my last long run, 23 miles. I'm not sure how I'm going to finish, but I will, and in 25 more days I'll run the big race, 26.2 miles. I'm almost there and it's very very exciting!