Diary of a Mad Marathon Runner in Training (Vol. 4)

Diary of a Mad Marathon Runner in Training (Vol. 4)

April 9, 2017

Today was another long run...16 miles...which was actually relatively short compared to my past long runs on a Monday. Anyways, here we're today's thoughts...enjoy!

Mile 1 (1.6km) - "I'm not ready for my run yet. I don't think my peanut butter toast and Prepare + Liftoff has quite digested..."

Mile 2 (3.2km) - "I ran 8 miles yesterday. Today is supposed to be my off day. I could've waited 'til tomorrow morning to run, but no way in hell I was waking up at 3am to run before heading to camp! That would just be crazy."

Mile 3 (4.8km) - "Oh my gosh, they've added a new bathroom, right here on the trail! This is the best thing ever! Usually I have to run another 3mi before peeing." *goes pee for the fourth time this morning* 

Mile 4 (6.4km) - "I smell cinnamon rolls. I don't even like cinnamon rolls, but I would definitely eat one right now!"

Mile 5 (8km) - "I'm feeling really good. And I feel like I got here a lot faster than usual...this run is going by fast!" I see a sign that says "STOP" and I'm still tempted...

Mile 6 (9.7km) - A guy with a badass arm sleeve just passed me. He was obviously running faster than me, and looked like he'd been running longer than me, too. I decided to pick up my pace... *picks up pace for 30 seconds* "I think I'm good with my previous pace actually."

Mile 7 (11.3km) - *rolls eyes at yet another biker passing me by at full speed* "They get the same distance as me in literally like 1/3 of the time! I want a bike."

Mile 8 (12.9km) - Halfway! And 2 chapters into my new podcast S-Town (thanks Suzanne)..."Shit {town} just got real!"

Mile 9 (14.5km) - I stopped to get a drink of water, and had to go off the running trail. Decided to take a short cut through a tree and a bush to get back, and looked up JUST IN TIME to see a big ass spider web. *does the matrix, barely missing it* "I hope nobody saw that." Turns around to hear a dad laughing and his son saying, why did that lady just do that? 😑"dammit"

Mile 10 (16km) - "I feel like only really serious runners wear visors...I'm glad I wore my visor today. I'm fitting in!"

Mile 11 (17.7km) - "That guy that just ran past me was the hottest guy I've ever seen!" *gets a little extra pep in my step* "I really want to turn around for a second look, or turn around and start chasing him...eh, better not."

Mile 12 (19.3km) - "Seriously, that guy was ridiculously good looking." 

Mile 13 (20.9km) - "I need water. And I take back what I said during mile 5...this run is NOT going by fast anymore!"

Mile 14 (22.5km) - Three years ago I started training for my first half marathon. On the day I was supposed to run 10mi in my training, I told myself that if I could do 10mi I might as well do 13.1...so I did it...and it was miserable; so I ended up not signing up for the race. Now all I'm thinking is, "I've literally ran 6+ half marathons while training for this one race. Man, I've come a long way!"

Mile 15 (24.1km) - An old man (like mid-70s old) just said, "Hey there's Wonder Woman!" as I ran by. I saw him ride past about three hours earlier when I was just beginning today's run..."thanks for the extra encouragement, sir."

Mile 16 (25.7km) - "Done! Now let's go fuel the body and fuel the spirit...time for a shake, and then church!"