Double Marathon Training Run

I am not dead. I survived my first 50 mile training run. Well, not to brag or anything, but it was actually 52.6 miles. That's more than 2 marathons! We started with 17 runners, picked up a few along the way, and then dropped down to 2 that finished. We even picked up a couple of girls running down Peoria. As we were running along past a bar, this gal starts running beside me. Her name is Tracy, and she said she ran cross country at University of Minnesota, and is now the women's cross country and steeplechase coach at De Paul. She gave us her email address and invited us to visit if we are ever up in Chicago.

I had a great time running with my friends, and I really appreciate the aid stations that several people set out for us. They were so well stocked that I almost over hydrated myself (I only lost 3 lbs). I was surprised at how well I felt during the run. Before starting, I had in the back of my mind that I might bail out once we got to NSU (about 33 miles), but when we got there I felt great other than my feet being a little sore. So, I took my shoes off, stretched my feet out a bit, and even they felt okay! So, I was all for going on.

Coach Kathy isn't quite recovered from her bout with the flu, and she was feeling weak for a large part of the run, so she dropped at NSU, as did Roman and Johnny and the few runners who had run on ahead of us. It was a real disappointment to me that Kathy dropped out. I am planning on pacing her for part of her 100 miler in November, and I was looking forward to finishing this training run with her. And we were having such a good time singing songs, telling jokes, and carrying on. By the way, Kathy does a pretty good cartwheel. Roman's is not so good.

So, it was just Ken and me to finish out the last 20 miles. We passed Ed and Julie on the path with about 16 miles to go and then Mary Alice about a mile later. I was still feeling strong at that point, but I think it was with about 10 miles to go that I began to tire. It had been humid and foggy most of the night, but when the sun came out the temperature seemed to rise fast, and it was really draining. My body wanted to hunch over from fatigue, and I had to concentrate on keeping good posture. As we approached Harvard we were leaving the hills behind us, and I was kind of dreading the flats that would characterize most of the last 5 or 6 miles. There would be no uphills as an excuse to take a walk break!

We actually kept up a pretty good pace for those last miles, but we did take walk breaks. The hardest stretch was by the volleyball courts. It seemed like a long hot stretch with no shade, but we could see the 71st Street Bridge not far off, so that gave me hope. As we got to the bridge Ken's Garmin beeped. Fifty-one miles, and by experience Ken knew it was precisely 1.6 miles to go. I took off at about a 9 minute pace, but stopped after I had crossed the river. Ken and I both walked up that last steep hill going up to Turkey Mountain and then jogged in the last bit for a total of 52.6 miles Hooray!

I slept most of the afternoon, woke up in time to get ready for evening church and to shoot off an email to Kathy saying I am considering getting my legs amputated. She sent back an email offering to loan me her hacksaw. Fortunately my legs are feeling much better today. I will not need the hacksaw, and I will even run again soon.

Oh, and by the way, the next person to complain about hills on our Saturday morning runs has to run along the Creek Turnpike to NSU and back. :)

So you all soon!