Before i took the trip to shelby farms, i put on my trusty spandex pants and my nike jacket. I filled my new Nathan Brand hand held water bottle (it kinda straps onto your hand and has a one way valve so you dont squirt yourself while you are running---- genius) with water, grabbed a packet of gu, a cliff bar, and a bottle of Gatorade. I was so smart and googled the 10K course so i would know where to start. I made this fantastic plan to run the 10K course 3 times because i knew the Tour De Wolf would be muddy.
So i park in the right parking lot and begin to look for the big sign that would mark the start of the 10K. FYI PEOPLE- the Shelby Farms website LIES. LIES. ALL LIES. There is no start billboard. SO i had to resort to plan B (bahahahah) which fortunately, i had. I opted to run this 2.75 mile course 6 times and to add a loop around the lake. The lake loop is 1.67 miles. All this added up to a glorious 18 mile run.
I began to trot. And when i say trot, i mean, i was running pretty damn slow. My legs were sluggish because i hadn't really run like i should have for the past 2 weeks. I made it about 2 miles around the loop when it started to rain. The rain kind of hurt a little bit. It was comin at me sideways and stinging my face. Nevertheless, i powered through it. Scratch that. Trudged through it. Lap one--- DOWN!
Lap two was uneventful. I hit the lake loop in the middle of Lap #2. Also uneventful. Lap 3. Still uneventful. After lap three, i stopped at my car to suck down a packet of Gu. Lemme tell you about Gu. I got the vanilla bean kind- it tastes really good, but it has the consistency of snot. So while you eat it you think, "man this tastes good, but am i eating vanilla flavored snot? ehhhhhhhhh not sure. but i think i will keep eating it." I opened the hate-or-ade and filled my little hand water bottle with it. yum. then i chewed a piece of gum and got back to running.
Lap 4 was also uneventful. On lap 5 it started to look dark and about a mile in, i saw these two guys that i had passed about 2 or 3 times before. as we ran past each other they were like, "hey, how far are you running today? we ran past you a bunch." I said, "18. Im training for the Nashville marathon." one dude said, "cool, i just ran the little rock" and then we went on our ways. It was a good time to chit chat with other distance runners, even if one was 40 and the other looked 60. Kinda gave me a little push for the end there.
When it was time for Lap 6, i thought, maybe i should just go run these last 3 miles at my dads house since it is kinda dark (it was cloudy so i couldn't tell when the sun set). BUT- i kept on running anyway, hoping i could just be sneaky. WELLLLLLLL, that didn't work. .75 miles in the RANGER picked me up in his truck and took me back to my car. I played dumb like i hadn't been paying attention, but i knew what i was doing. good thing i have an innocent looking face. i sure fooled him.
So since i got kicked out of shelby farms, i drove to my dads house, grabbed winston and his leash, then ran --- scratch that--- hobbled the last two miles of my 18.
How did my body take it you ask? I was tired, stiff, in pain, sore, but oh so happy. My hip flexers were the most tender- i definitely could not have done hurdles and there is a good chance i couldnt have jumped up on a curb if it werent for those AWESOME handicap ramps that are on every corner now. Thank goodness for the Americans with disabilities act or else i probably would have fallen on my face those last two miles.
Fortunately, i had a good attitude about this run. I have just finished the book, Ultra Marathon Man by Dean Karnazes. I will blog about that later, but in his book he makes a good point about running and pain. Running hard should be a little painful, and as long as you feel good pain from working yourself like a mule, you are doing the right stuff. He also talks about baby steps and taking it one stride at a time. Both these things made the 18 miles a little easier and rewarding.
I am proud of my accomplishment and I cant wait til i get to run 20! yay!
Ultra Love
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