A fabulous 17 mile run!!

After my sucky 16 mile run last week, my 17 mile run scheduled for today was all I could think about!  My anxiety level was crazy high this past week about the marathon in general.  I questioned why I was doing it, if I could do it, and if I should switch to the half marathon.  After my run today, I am good to go!  I know I can do this.

I knew I had to have a route planned out for the run this morning.  I mapped a few out over the past week and did not like any of them.  An hour before my run I figured out a great route.  There are a few ways I drive to my parent's house.  The first 6 miles of my run was one of the routes there, then I made a right, ran 2 miles, and then picked up another way back to my house.  The course I mapped out on Beginnertriathlete.com was 17.02 miles.  I figured it was a good route because I did not have to remember my turns or wing my run.  The plan worked well!

I was on the fence about what to wear today for the run.  I think it was about 55 degrees when I started out and I knew it would end up being about 65 when I finished.  I settled on my capris and a short sleeved shirt with arm warmers.  I was surprised and wore the arm warmers for the first 10 miles.  I wanted to make sure I liked them because I think I will wear them for the marathon.  I don't have a jacket or long sleeve shirt I would want to toss to the side and I hate running with a shirt tied around my waist.  As of right now, I have the outfit planned for the marathon. 
I started at a slower pace than I normally start my long runs.  I think this is going to be key for me and I plan on doing this for the rest of my long runs.  I had in mind what pace I wanted to run the marathon but I think I need to slow it down.  I am okay with that.  On my previous long runs I was doing run/walk intervals.  I had myself convinced I could not actually run the whole marathon.  I am still not sure I can but let me tell you, I ran that whole 17 miles!!  I did walk a few steps for one of my gatorade drinks though.  For some reason, I can't get a good flow out of my bottle.  I was ok for most of the run but that one time I felt like I needed a good drink.  I walked a few feet, untwisted the lid, drank right from the bottle, and started running again.

I don't run with headphones on so I am very aware of what is going on around me.  I was right under 7 miles and I noticed a car pull off to the opposite side of the road from me.  I looked back over my shoulder, saw the driver wave, and I quickly waved back.  I kept running though but then I heard the woman get out of the car and yell to me.  I hesitated but looked back again.  I think the woman could see my hesitation and she yelled "I know you from the Y."  I knew right away who she was and I stopped.  She is a woman I used to see frequently when I worked out at the Y.  I still have the membership but use it more for the pool now that I am marathon training.  We chatted for a few minutes and I learned that she has run the Philly marathon 4 times and this year she wanted to do something different.  She is leaving for Beijing later this month and running a marathon there.  Pretty incredible!  She wrote down my email address and phone number.  Looks like I might have an occasional running buddy.  She runs a little faster than me but told me she has no problem running my pace for some runs.  She offered me water or a bathroom stop (she lives where she pulled over) but I declined and was back on my way! 

I did have to stop at a Dunkin Donuts around mile 11 to get some more Gatorade.  The hardest part of the run was when I was back in town.  At mile 15 I was going straight at a light but it was so tempting to turn right and run the half mile to my house.  I kept going! 

I am happy to say my anxiety level regarding my marathon in SIX weeks had decreased!!  I don't have a time goal in my mind anymore.  My new goal is to say I RAN my first marathon instead of completing my first.

Total miles...17.04
Time...3 hours 25 minutes and 51 seconds
Pace...12 minutes and 5 seconds