Days 166 - 169: Runner's karma?

Thursday I didn't get my run in. I spent 3 hours arguing with my apartment office and UPS about a lost package, which took up my whole evening. Lame.

Friday I was going to wake up early to run, but that didn't happen either. Not to worry, however, because I left work a little early and got in my 8 miles. It was chilly and I was feeling very unmotivated, so I did something quite unorthodox: I took my iPod. I almost never run with an iPod. It adds more equipment and hassle to worry about, I worry that I won't hear cars or other people behind me, and I feel that when I'm out running I should enjoy the sounds of birds and my feet hitting the pavement and just be able to think and clear my head. But I was desperate. It actually seemed to work; the first part of my run went really well--about 11:00 pace, didn't tire too quickly, got out some of my frustrations from Thursday. When I started, the sky was beautiful and blue and sunny. With 2.5 miles left, however, the sky suddenly turned black and there was a massive downpour. After about half a mile I was soaked so badly I had to turn off the iPod and hide it away in my pocket. Then, I thought either it was raining much harder than I had realized, or that I must have been running really fast, because the rain started to seriously sting. That's when I saw the ice balls bouncing off my cheeks and nose. Hail. Seriously, hail? That was a new one. It subsided back to rain eventually, and my last 3/4 of a mile was clear, although I was already wet and cold, so it really wouldn't have mattered if it kept raining. I imagine it was punishment for skipping my run Thursday when the weather was beautiful, and for being so weak I needed to take the iPod. At least I got some practice running in the rain, I guess... who knows what the weather will be like on marathon day.

Saturday I didn't really do too much cross training. My dad was in town, and we went shopping and stuff. I did a LOT of walking and trying on clothes, and I was really tired by the end of the day, so I figure I must have accomplished a little. I mean, so many hours of shopping helps build endurance, right? And do you have any idea how much of a challenge it is for me to pick out clothes? I think it counts.

Today was the dreaded run. 20 miles. The run everyone swore would kill us. I had massive amounts of anxiety all morning; it didn't make it better that we started much later than usual because I went to brunch with dad first (but it was totally worth the carb-tastic pancakes of deliciousness I ate at brunch in preparation for the run!). We took it easy and the first 7 miles went by faster than we'd thought. I felt great and our time stayed right around 12:00 min/mile until just after the 13 mile mark... I think at that point my body is so used to half marathons that it's just like, "Why are you still running? We should be done now!" And it gets a little ornery. I got runner's high around mile 15; Chris didn't get his until 17 or 18. It didn't last either of us too long though, so by mile 19 I was getting pretty nervous for mile 20. But it was uneventful. Totally anticlimactic. After all those warnings and worry and dread... it was pretty much just like 19. Maybe a reward for not giving up despite the hail Friday. Maybe it's just that after a certain point, all the mileage is the same. Either way, we finished, and in 4:13:47, which included 4 or 5 5-minute walking/hydrating breaks--so we're still on track to finish around 5:30 - 6 hours. So I feel good about our run. My back hurts, my legs hurt, my shoulders hurt... but we broke through the 20 mile wall... in way better shape than I could have hoped. :-)