21 Miles and I'm hurting

Because of some traveling in the next few weeks, my wife and I did our 21 mile runs today. Since Steve is planning on running the marathon with us, he came along too. We met at the Collegeville Diner and ran 7 miles north and back leaving us with a 3.5 mile distance south before heading back to the car. I really like this because of the ample opportunities to refill Gatorade and bathroom breaks.

The run wasn't that bad this morning. It was 50 degrees at the start so this happened to be the first time we all wore long sleeve shirts. 21 miles felt like a daunting challenge, after our 17 and 19 miles weren't that smooth. I remember our 15 mile being an adventure with us being excited about the challenge. But our mood for 17 and 19 soured a bit with the scope of what we were undertaking. I remember our last 6 miles of our last really long run was run in silence so I woke up this morning with a determination to chit chat and keep a light mood through the whole run.

Going out and back for 14 miles was really nice since it broke the run up into manageable parts. 14 miles isn't so bad. We chilled for a second at the car, and then headed out for the last 7. That a little challenging and everyone stopped talking so I started singing show tunes. I dreamed a dream of time gone byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. The mood was definitely lighter than our last two runs and it really helped. Lesson learned man, gotta keep up with good vibes, even if you have to force it a little bit.

I felt a lot better doing the last 3 miles today than I did doing 19. The worst part of the run came at the end when we stopped. I've never felt so.....uncomfortable. I was in pain. Nothing specific but it was rough. My legs were screaming about the abuse that I put them through. I didn't feel good standing still but it hurt walking too. It was the most hurt I've been after a run but I'm fine now.

I also found out what makes my wife nap. I've been coming back and lounging in bed since our 15 miles runs, but my wife has been staying up to fiddle around the house. Not today, so that's good to know. Only takes 21 mile runs to really wear the misses out.

We're away for then next two weeks but I think when we come back I'd like to fit another 15 miler in but I'll be waiting to make that decision.

Thinking that this is was our biggest run before the marathon is a little scary. We're going from 21 to 26.2 with nothing in between. I'm confident we'll be able to do it, but still. That's a 5 mile jump in distance with nothing in between.

My name is Jim and my wife and I are training for our first marathon. Here's all my training posts to date.