We woke up yesterday morning to the sounds of a thunderstorm rolling through. As the thunder sounded and the lightening struck, we could feel our house shaking around us. The rain was pouring down as we looked out the window trying to decide what to do with our 21 mile run we had planned for the morning. We looked at the radar only to find that it was showing a tiny cloud above us and telling us that it was only lightly raining. It also showed us that the cloud had only been above us for about 15 minutes in which we knew was not true. The thunderstorm had been the thing that woke us up around 5:30 and it was now pushing 6:45. We looked outside the window once more to see if there would be a break in the clouds, but we could not see one in the distance. We were going to head out the door by 7:00, but decided to take a rain delay.
I quickly got to work starting a pot of coffee as Brent grabbed the ingredients for pancakes. Even though we did not know how much longer the storm was going to last, we decided to eat breakfast and relax for a few hours before we headed out. Sure enough, about the time we were sitting down to eat, the storm ended and the sky started to show off its blue colors amongst the white clouds. Oh well we thought as we settled down onto the couch to watch a few episodes of the television show “Numbers”. As we relaxed and waited for our stomachs to settle, we decided to do a few stretches which turned out not to be such a good idea.
As 10 o’clock quickly came upon us, we filled up our water bottles, found our gels and shot bloks, put our packs and shoes on, and then headed out the door. It felt great to be running down the road after having to wait a few hours to get going. Which I have decided that I like getting out on my run earlier than later in the morning. Brent ran with me as he had a cold earlier on in the week and was still getting over it. He did not want to go out an push himself too hard. I enjoyed the company. We ran up the road on the route we had planned out feeling good. My body was loving hitting the pavement. As we came up on miles 7 and 8, I could start feeling my legs getting a little tired and sore. I am sure that running as well as I did at the Bozeman Half Marathon and a strong five miler that I put in, was not helping my legs for this run. I pushed on sore, but knowing that I could do what I was set out to do. It was nothing unbearable nor aching pain that would make me stop.
With my sore legs, we headed down the road that brought us a gradual elevation increase with rolling hills. It felt good to get the hills in as we ran through this section from about mile 10 to mile 14. This was part of my half marathon route last weekend, but we were running it backwards. This lead to some great views as we were able to see the sky changing into a day with less clouds and more sun. This also brought us more heat than expected and we could feel the mugginess in the air from the rain earlier on that morning. We pushed on as Brent was having a harder time with this run than I was. His legs were sore as well, he was dealing with a pain in his shoulder, and he was still dealing with that cold from earlier. The thing was that, we wanted to get this 21 miler in and we had no other time in the next week to try and fit it in. He pushed on.
As we passed the 16 mile mark, I was getting a terrible side stitch in which I pushed through for a few minutes. I decided that no matter how much I did not want to stop and take a walk break that it was the best thing I could do. I had a few sips of my water that was disappearing faster than I wanted. I walked it off or so I thought I did. I tried running again and soon found the pain back in my side. I walked again. This time I walked for about 1/4 of a mile to 1/2 of a mile. I was crushed as I thought that I might not be able to get going again. I knew I was somewhere between 5 and 6 miles left. I tried running doing that walking period for another moment, but it was too bad. I could not keep it going. I had Brent continue to run as I did not want to slow him down any more than the things he was already dealing with. I saw him up ahead start to walk and I got a little worried and disappointed for him as well.
He was able to start running again and disappeared off around the next corner. I continued to walk it out and drank the rest of my water knowing that I still had several miles to go. I think the water and the walk helped me a great deal. I was getting close to the turn and tried running again. This time, I felt better. I kept it going and caught back up to Brent as he was going at a slow pace. I thought that maybe he was trying to wait for me, but I found out that his IT band was giving him troubles again. He handed the key to the house off to me and told me to keep going if I was feeling better. I ran off praying for his knee to stop hurting. He had done so well on the 16 miler, but I know the stress of the week was not helping him out. The next few weeks are going to be spent babying his knee doing constant work on it. When he spends time working on it, he does well and is not in pain. We are praying that it goes well for the marathon. All he wants to do is finish and finish without being in a ton of pain. Then he is done. He will be satisfied with his one and only marathon. Unless he feels fantastic, he just might try one in the far off future.
I was feeling great, but thirsty. I was just glad that I was now only about 3 1/2 miles from home. This was doable without water. I was just glad that I was able to run as far as I did on only 16 ounces of water. The pack that I use with my water bottle is fine, but if I continue to do these longer runs, then I plan on investing in something that can carry more water. I headed home eagerly as I was excited to finish my first 21 mile run. I was on the last stretch knowing that I had already passed the 21 mile mark, but still had .4 of a mile to go. I was glad to run that last .4 knowing that it would put me closer to home where the water and vitamin water was located. I finished with my legs being more sore than any of my other long runs. Yet I still finished at a 9:36 min/mi pace. Which yes, it did include that walk. This made me feel pretty good about the run knowing that I still did well despite my moment of having the side stitch.
After getting home, I grabbed a glass of water and drank it slowly to help replenish my body. Then I grabbed the vitamin water and a fruit rope and headed back out the door to bring these things to Brent as well. Luckily, I met him sooner than expected down the road. His knee was not as bad as it had been and he was able to finish. Both of us agreed that it was a good run yet disappointing. I know that this is not showing me I am not ready for the marathon, as I know that we both are. We are going both be fine. This just happened to be an off day for us. Next time our long run is the marathon. We are excited for the next few weeks of tapering down and healing our bodies. Eating less or earlier and not stretching my legs that I normally do not will make the run go better. I knew better, but for some reason the rain delay made me decide, why not? But really only a mile or 2 of pain out of 21 miles is not bad. I am looking forward to the next long run, being the Portland Marathon. Bring it on! We are ready for you.