A Personal Best, a Personal First, and a Glimmer of Hope
Nothing like a unique experience at the local pit-stop.
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This weekend, I had the option of going to the MSU/Eastern Michigan football game. I also had an offer for U-M football tickets too. Both offers were tempting. After all, each choice would result in me missing yet another Team in Training group run.
Guilt and reality, however, have pretty much set in. I'm WAY behind on my training, as you know. So I passed on both sets of tickets, and met my team bright and early on Saturday morning in Royal Oak.
The weather was awesome. It was a brisk 63 degrees, perfect running weather. Our task for the morning? Run 16 miles. *gulp* I knew that was what I would have to do, though there was a lot of doubt. I had never ran over 13.1, and that was when I had raced my half Ironman all the way back in May. The only mental trick I could play on myself was that I had done that distance after a 1.2 mile swim and a 56 mile bike. I certainly could have enough energy today to go a meager 16 miles. (Sounds logical, right?)
I made sure to have enough nutrition for the road. After all, it would be along run since I'm so slow. (I figured around 4 hours should do it.)
The start of my runs are often slow. It takes me a while for my legs to wake up (which they usually do at around mile 4). Because of my 45 minute drive in, I hadn't gone to the bathroom in a while, so soon after I started, I ran by the park bathroom for a quick pit stop.
Locked.
Ok, there is a gas station down the street. Not my favorite choice, but when you have got to go, you have got to go. (Maybe I shouldn't drink a full coffee and Accelerade drink before heading out of the house...but I digress.)
I ran to the gas station, and found the bathroom door locked. I went in and asked if I need a key. "There is probably just someone in there," the attendant responded. Very well, I shall wait.
I headed back out and rounded the corner, when I saw the man leave from the bathroom, smoking a cigarette. "Great," I thought. Nothing like a bathroom that reeks of cigarette smoke. (Sorry, smokers, but bathrooms already smell bad enough, no sense in enhancing the unpleasantries.)
I reached for the handle to enter the unisex bathroom, and to my surprise, another man opened the door and exited the bathroom.
Well, that's not something you see every day.
But, I still had to go...ugh. Whatever those two men were doing behind this closed door, I didn't really want to know. I tried to imagine them just in there together and talking like girls would about the hottie they had seen at the bar the night before. That vision didn't work as I was jettisoned back into reality by the cigarette smoke still lingering in the air.
After one of my fastest bathroom stops ever, my eyes caught the glance of one of the men as I exited. He was shabbily dressed as if he had been out on the street for days, and it made me feel as though I was intruding on their world. "Yup, I am," I thought, and I started back on my run, feeling more uncomfortable than ever.
The great thing about running is that it clears your mind. I was in need for a brain cleanse, and after a few miles, the ordeal that I had just witnessed came to pass.
I completed my first lap of 8 miles in 1 hour 30 minutes (and that included the undesired bathroom break). I felt pretty good and was mentally ready for more. 1 hour 35 minutes later, I finished the second lap, completing the 16 mile mission. With only getting in 16 miles in within the last two weeks, I had just done 16 miles in one session -- my farthest run I have ever done in my life (and it took me only 5 minutes longer than the 13.1 mile leg of my half Ironman).
I think I just may be able to do this after all. My enthusiasm is up and I feel GREAT. If I can keep this up now, I think I'll be okay. I'll just be sure to steer clear of gas station bathrooms for a while.
Guilt and reality, however, have pretty much set in. I'm WAY behind on my training, as you know. So I passed on both sets of tickets, and met my team bright and early on Saturday morning in Royal Oak.
The weather was awesome. It was a brisk 63 degrees, perfect running weather. Our task for the morning? Run 16 miles. *gulp* I knew that was what I would have to do, though there was a lot of doubt. I had never ran over 13.1, and that was when I had raced my half Ironman all the way back in May. The only mental trick I could play on myself was that I had done that distance after a 1.2 mile swim and a 56 mile bike. I certainly could have enough energy today to go a meager 16 miles. (Sounds logical, right?)
I made sure to have enough nutrition for the road. After all, it would be along run since I'm so slow. (I figured around 4 hours should do it.)
The start of my runs are often slow. It takes me a while for my legs to wake up (which they usually do at around mile 4). Because of my 45 minute drive in, I hadn't gone to the bathroom in a while, so soon after I started, I ran by the park bathroom for a quick pit stop.
Locked.
Ok, there is a gas station down the street. Not my favorite choice, but when you have got to go, you have got to go. (Maybe I shouldn't drink a full coffee and Accelerade drink before heading out of the house...but I digress.)
I ran to the gas station, and found the bathroom door locked. I went in and asked if I need a key. "There is probably just someone in there," the attendant responded. Very well, I shall wait.
I headed back out and rounded the corner, when I saw the man leave from the bathroom, smoking a cigarette. "Great," I thought. Nothing like a bathroom that reeks of cigarette smoke. (Sorry, smokers, but bathrooms already smell bad enough, no sense in enhancing the unpleasantries.)
I reached for the handle to enter the unisex bathroom, and to my surprise, another man opened the door and exited the bathroom.
Well, that's not something you see every day.
But, I still had to go...ugh. Whatever those two men were doing behind this closed door, I didn't really want to know. I tried to imagine them just in there together and talking like girls would about the hottie they had seen at the bar the night before. That vision didn't work as I was jettisoned back into reality by the cigarette smoke still lingering in the air.
After one of my fastest bathroom stops ever, my eyes caught the glance of one of the men as I exited. He was shabbily dressed as if he had been out on the street for days, and it made me feel as though I was intruding on their world. "Yup, I am," I thought, and I started back on my run, feeling more uncomfortable than ever.
The great thing about running is that it clears your mind. I was in need for a brain cleanse, and after a few miles, the ordeal that I had just witnessed came to pass.
I completed my first lap of 8 miles in 1 hour 30 minutes (and that included the undesired bathroom break). I felt pretty good and was mentally ready for more. 1 hour 35 minutes later, I finished the second lap, completing the 16 mile mission. With only getting in 16 miles in within the last two weeks, I had just done 16 miles in one session -- my farthest run I have ever done in my life (and it took me only 5 minutes longer than the 13.1 mile leg of my half Ironman).
I think I just may be able to do this after all. My enthusiasm is up and I feel GREAT. If I can keep this up now, I think I'll be okay. I'll just be sure to steer clear of gas station bathrooms for a while.
By the way -- Please let me take this opportunity to shamelessly plug the fact that I'm behind on my fundraising and still need to raise $1100 more, so if you would like to donate anything at all to the Leukemia & Lymphoma society, please visit my fundraising page http://pages.teamintraining.org/mi/dublin08/aduncan. Every little bit helps, and every penny is GREATLY appreciated. I need to reach this goal by the end of Sepember. Thank you!!
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