1k in 2k10- It Wasn't Pretty

This week was quite an adventure! I managed to get all of my planned runs in, although at least one was, quite frankly, a sh@t show...

Monday:
Ran 3.75 miles with hubby. The weather was great, although it was kind of windy.

Tuesday:
Although we didn't run today, today is very pertinent to the rest of the week. Hubby and I didn't feel like running so we decided to work out with one of our Wii games. I'd received the Biggest Loser game for Christmas and hadn't tried it yet, so we put it in and tried it out. We did a 30 minute full body workout on the 'moderate' level. Oh. My. Goodness. I am in fairly good shape and I was DYING. There was sweat pooling in my ears. This workout was INTENSE!!

Wednesday:
Although we were extremely sore from our Biggest Loser Workout, hubby and I ran a FAST 4 miles. Again, I could have done without the wind!

Thursday:
Ugh- nothing about this day made me want to run. I was tired and still VERY sore. Hubby wasn't interested in it either but I needed to get 2.25 miles in to meet my weekly goal. We went out and ran a pitiful 2.5 miles as a snail's pace.

Friday:
Rest- note, I was STILL SORE from the Biggest Loser.

Saturday:
Today my training plan called for a 20 mile run. I wasn't worried about the distance but, the forecast called for clear skies and warm temperatures. That kind of weather is great for hanging out at the beach but not so great for running 20 miles. This run would test me, that's for sure.

I arrived at the meeting point at 7:00 AM and it was already getting hot. Our trainees gathered and Dean Karnazes addressed our group. He talked about running 50 marathons in 50 states, over 50 days. His 50th marathon was the New York City Marathon and his goal was to beat P.Diddy (which he did).  He also has run the Badwater Ultramarathon NINE times. The first time, he 'saw' an old miner wandering through the dessert asking him for water. As Dean poured some of his water out into the miner's gold pan, the water hit the ground. He realized then that he was hallucinating!

After Dean's pep talk, we started running. We headed over the Golden Gate Bridge where the winds were so strong- it made running very difficult. When we made across the bridge, a number of my runners decided that they'd head home after going back across the bridge. The rest of us continued on our route.

It turned out that I was the only runner in our group that was planning to run 20 miles. I decided I would run the shorter route of thirteen miles (the training run for folks planning to run the half-marathon) and then I'd stop by my car and pick up my iPod and tack on an extra seven miles.

As we neared the ten mile mark, all but one runner and another pacer in my group had called it quits. The route was very hilly and the sun was relentless. It was tough to find a cool or shady spot along this run. The trainee and the other pacer decided to walk and I ran ahead.

I stopped in a public restroom to fill my water bottle and then headed out to finish the 13 miles. As I neared the stopping point, I reached into my waist pack and felt...nothing. My water bottle was missing. At the exact same moment, I felt a sharp pain in my achilies. Awesome.

I made it back my car and made a split second decision that I would drive my car back down to the public restroom where I'd stopped, just in case I'd left my water in there. Sure enough, my water bottle was sitting, untouched, on the sink in the restroom. At that point I decided I'd try to tack on a few more miles.

I ran along the ocean because I found there was a nice breeze there. When I got tired of running there, I found some shady, flat streets. I zig zagged around this neighborhood for a while and then went back by the water. I literally ran in circles, trying to stay cool. Eventually, I looked at my Garmin and noticed that I had less than 3 miles to go to reach 20. I decided to go for it.

I ended up taking a bunch of walk breaks but just before I got back to my car, I completed the 20 miles. I started screaming, "I did it! I did it!" Yes, people saw me and probably thought I was bananas. I couldn't celebrate for long, though, as a woman wanted my parking space.

My drive home was interesting. I probably should not have been driving- I was kind of out of it. I did start to feel really sick, though and just concentrated on not throwing up in my car. I didn't don't worry.

I can't even explain how proud of myself I am that I actually completed those 20 miles. I really wanted to quit several different times but I managed to hang in there!

Total weekly mileage:
30.25 miles

Next week is a down week- out long run is only 15 miles. Let's hope for some cooler temperatures, ok?