Eighteen

Why yes, yesterday I did run eighteen miles!

The actual plan was for a sixteen miler. That was what was on my schedule, and I mapped out a route to do so...run 4.5 miles to my gym, run 7 on the treadmill, run 4.5 back home. Phil brought a bag to the gym for me, with a big jug of gatorade, a couple packs of sport beans, and some magazines.
I left the house just before seven, and made my way to the gym. The route I take there goes along a lovely road with big grassy fields and cow pastures. I was upset to see that one of the grassy fields has been purchased and has a sign "subdivision proposed". The land would be perfect for one house with lots of green space. It will be interesting to see how many houses they jam onto that space.
But I digress. The hardest part of my run is always the first couple of miles. I feel like my breathing is hard, and all the little muscle tightness or joint soreness shows up. Once I pus past that first bit, it gets easier. So I got myself to the gym, and plopped onto a treadmill. But there was someone else in the cardio room, and I didn't have the usual gossip magazines...and then my ipod died. So I left the gym after 4 miles. It was okay, since I didn't really have the treadmill mojo going on. I actually was feeling quite dizzy and wondering if I would make it through 16 miles.

Once back on the road, I started feeling much better. At around 10 miles, I was actually feeling good. I decided on a new plan, to turn at the high school instead of going straight home, and making a quick detour to the middle school track, where I would do a mile on the track and then head home.

At 11 miles, I started aching, in weird places. My tailbone hurt. Why would your tailbone hurt during a run? Now I am thinking maybe I won't make it to the middle school. I found a little spot by a road sign where the weeds had been mowed down, so I pulled over and tried to stretch (how in the heck do you stretch your tailbone area? I just basically bent over!) It was a little better, so I went ahead and went over to the track. By this time, my toes, ankles, hips, and shoulders were yelling at me. Luckily, Phil met me at the track and gave me much needed encouragement (and gatorade!) I hobbled around the track, then headed for home. Luc met me at the high school with a bottle of green tea and the message that it was not 2 miles to the middle school, but three! I was so excited to hear that, that the run home was somewhat easier. I sent Luc ahead to start my ice bath- and this time we actually dumped our entire ice make contents into the tub. It was torture getting in, but after about 5 minutes you get knid of numb to it. I sat in the ice water for about 15 minutes, then took my shower.

The rest of the day ended up being pretty lazy- the family went to the pool with one of my friends and her daughter. I made a simple but wonderful dinner of pasta with potatoes and cabbage, and we had an early night. And so far today, I am feeling pretty good! The only
thing that really hurts is the two blisters on the back of my heels.

So now- eighteen is my newest high run!!!!