18 Miles...

Now I understand how I was able to run eight miles with no problems when I was younger. Aside from the obvious that I'm older now. It was the bike trail behind my parents house. Running on the flat dirt path was easier on the body. Plus no worries about where vehicles are in relationship to your body.

Today I ventured onto the bike path in my quaint little City of Muskego. What a difference the flatness and small cushion the dirt gives versus the road. I want to thank the rain gods for just the right amount of rain last night to make the path slightly softer for my well abused legs today. With the extra cushion, I managed to pull off 18 miles this morning averaging about 10 minutes per mile-a collective whole of 3 hours. With a bunch of uncertainty after running the said 18 miles, I'm sure I won't be able to hold that pace for the remainder 8.2 miles that I will have to complete in a month. Who knows, maybe I'll have it in me. That last mile was a killer. In about two weeks, I will test out 22 or 24 miles and see where I end up.  

On a different note, my intention prior to this run was to buy one of those belts that holds water bottles. Of course, I forgot to buy them when I was at the store last (way too focused on the necessary things of life). In my attempt to prepare for my run with the necessary resource to survive, I needed to come up with something to carry a water bottle. I dove into my closet and pulled out an old shirt I used for biking while training for my past triathlons. It has a pocket on the back of the shirt so I put a cold water bottle in it. Magically, it numbed my lower back for the first half of my run. In turn, I didn't have any aches in my lower back (insert image of me patting my own back). I just saved thirty dollars.

Speaking about aches, the rest of my lower half didn't hold up as well. The stuff in my old running shoes was gone so I've been slowly breaking in a new pair, but I hadn't taken them on a long distance run yet. Today was the day. It's kind of alarming when your feet are numb when you start running. New running shoes always make my feet tingly and numb until they've been sufficiently broken in. Well, I managed to break them in by mile five. Though by mile fourteen, they went numb again from the blisters and the abusive pounding. My calves were so tight and spasm periodically. Thankfully, my knees and hips were good during this run. Then again, my pain from my feet and calves could be misleading the pain from my knees and hips.

Through this journey of preparing for a marathon, I have to wonder how do all those people who do multiple marathons manage it. This one is just painful enough I'm almost certain I won't be doing another one. Though it is one more thing I can cross off my bucket list. Beyond the bucket list, there is a method to my madness. If I can do a marathon, I can climb Mt. Whitney (the tallest mountain, 22 miles round trip, in the lower 48).

Now it will take me the rest of the day to recover. Off to take my recover nap. Enjoy your Sunday!