Did it!

Yes folks, I did it! 3 hours ALL BY MYSELF. If you had asked me if I was going to do this last night or 3 hours ago, I would have said no. In fact, I was ill prepared. I had my fuel belt and Gu, but no visor or sunglasses. Luckily, the weather cooperated with me - humid, but overcast. I have to admit that in all reality I did the 3 hours because it took me longer to run the distance due to hills (YES hills again!!!) and because very early on in the run I didn't take a turn when I was supposed to resulting in a longer route. I ended up with a 9:42 pace which is slower than usual, but given the hills and it was just me and my Ipod, I will take it.

I did call Jim at one point to come and get me. It was near the end and I came to an intersection without road signs. I wasn't completely confident in my location as it was. I only had 15 minutes to go, but was out of water and didn't want to be out there for another half hour or more. Well, it turned out that I was exactly where I thought I was which turned out to be about 1.5 miles from the campground. I had 8 minutes to go so STUPIDLY I told him I would keep running now that I knew where I was at. 8 minutes later I was regretting that unwise decision. (I can admit when I am wrong -sometimes) Why my husband of 10 years could not say to me, "Maybe you should just get in, 2 hours and 52 minutes is close enough, especially on vacation." Apparently, he does not have my best interests at heart. A topic for a future discussion with him....

It was a long mile walk back to the campground. I became delirious at one point seeing a Diet Mtn Dew can floating head of me - kinda like when you see water mirages on hot roads. I never got closer to it. When I was about 50 feet from the camp store where I knew my precious Diet Dew awaited me, I saw my dear husband approach in his vehicle. He wondered (a bit late in my view) if I wanted a ride the rest of the way (where were you .8 miles ago???). I think his true intent was to get between me and my Diet Dew - you know how jealous he can be.

But now I am in happy bliss - on my SECOND can of Diet Dew and done with my run!

Good luck to everyone tomorrow!

I feel your pain

Just so you guys know, I submit myself to pain even when I am not running with you. I decided to do an interval run this morning. Of course it was the worst day ever to do so, because it was the HILLIEST course EVER! I should have just turned off my interval program and realized I was doing a hill work out. But no, I couldn't let you guys down. So, I did it. Not pretty, but I did it. I figured you guys would say it would be pay back for doing a roller coaster hill during a long run. This run was like doing intervals on roller coaster hill x 10! No exaggeration. I know we will be hearing enough exaggeration when Mike and Bryan return from Canada - so no need to dish it out now!

So you guys were heavy on my mind this morning.. in addition to the interval training from HE double hockey sticks.... I encountered a very LARGE and very LOUD dog. He did not have an electric collar on. Luckily his owner was awake and said "Leave her alone". Apparently he listened. Of course I got to dread repeating that encounter on the way back, but the running Gods decided they had dealt me enough challenges and the dog was inside on my return pass. Whew! Not to be out done though, the Gods made me do my last interval ALL up hill.... no lie.

Trail Running

The great thing about vacation is being able to run in places you have never run before. When I am at a State Park, I like to do trail running because it lets you see the park in a completely different way than from the road (A surprise, I know). Plus it lets me preview any trails we might take the kids on. Plus when I am trail running I am more accepting of a slower pace. I justify it by the fact that I need to be more careful about my footing and am constantly checking to see where I am on maps - even if I know where I am at (map = rest). I also figure that since I am running on my VACATION that I automatically get 2 minutes/mile handicap on my pace. I call it my vacation run pace.

So, even though Lake Wissota has a 3 mile long road and I could get 6 miles in by running up and down it, I opted for a route that had more trails. And it was great, beautiful, relaxing until that moment when my toe caught a tree root and I went sprawling on the trail. A nice road rash on my knee and shin. Of course, I did this on the most flat and smooth part of the trail. Remember what I said about being careful about my footing?

What amazed me about the whole experience was how quickly the mind and body respond - first to trying not to fall, then by easing the impact, third by assessing injuries and fourth - did anyone see me? This all happens with in 1 second. No worries - I am fine. Just another lesson in humility. I know how much I need that!