We had a 20 mile run on the docket this morning. The weather was perfect for this time of year - 28 degrees, but calm and no rain. That was the only thing that went well.
This run was much harder than last week's 19 mile run and it is probably because of that run plus the two 10 mile runs during the week that made this 20 miler so unbearable. My body wasn't given the chance to recover. It was the first time (I think) that after the first 5.5 mile loop I thought "I can't do this" AND I have 14.5 miles to go!!!!
The second 5.5 mile loop wasn't a whole lot better, but Cooter Brown was with us and having not seen him in a long time, it gave a 'fresh' feeling to the run. And of course we made it quite clear that we expected him to continually talk the whole run. But still at the end of the loop, I was thinking I do NOT, can NOT do another 9 miles.
For the last 9 miles we headed out of town. Doing 9 miles of loops around town would have been the nail in the coffin. Thankfully my running partner (and godsend) Katie said, if we walk, we walk - we just need to get the miles in. That change in philosophy, which I took full advantage of, was just what I needed. And although we stopped several times to walk, it really didn't walk that far, but it gave us enough of a break which allowed us to continue on - without breaking down in tears (okay, I have never done that, I call someone to come pick me up way before I reach that point!)
Plus we stopped an had a Dew Stop. It has been a long time since we have done that. I tell ya, the taste of ice cold Diet Dew near the end of any long run puts me in nirvana. And the 3 miles we had left after the Dew Stop seemed bearable.
By the end we had logged 20.4 miles. I can't thank Katie enough, there is NO WAY I would have been able to do it without her. I hate training for a marathon!
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