This post is a little bittersweet for me. I've been on vacation for the past week in Nashwauk, MN which is an 8-hour drive north of Milwaukee. I was with Phil & Wilson, plus Phil's family. They have a beautiful cabin on Lake Shoal and we spent the week willing the sun to come out of the sky, listening to the loons on the water, and grilling for every meal. The best part? I didn't have my phone on, and the internet is essentially a myth in those woods. Being able to post this means I'm back to where the city where my real life continues.
While up north I had a fairly ambitious week of running ahead of me. Tuesday was only 3 miles, Wednesday was 6, Thursday 3 again. Friday was rest. Sounds ok so far, right? Saturday, sweet, sweet Saturday... 11 miles. That's the longest I've run since my 1/2 marathon so I was nervous about it all week. I wish I would have taken a picture of the route- it was unreal. We ran on the side of the road, which was a county highway. The pavement turned into a gravel road just a couple of minutes into the runs. During of our runs we saw more deer than cars, and the biggest annoyance were horseflies. The people who did drive past us were so polite- they waved, moved to the other lane and gave us plenty of space to feel safe running on the side of the road.
Let me talk about the 6 miles first. The 6 miler route was a simple out-and-back run. We ran for 30 minutes, and turned around. The gravel was nice to run on because it was easier on my legs than the pavement, so I was feeling good. Then I realized the route was rolling hill after rolling hill. I had to laugh to myself because it's always something, right?! I have a love/hate relationship with hills. I love running them because it's such a great challenge, and I like to pass people on hills during races. I remember back in high school I would make it a point to pass at least one person on every hill I ran. Of course i hate them because they're hills, and they hurt :)
I read an article about hills in Runner's World magazine that suggested naming hills to give you a mental edge. They pointed out famous hills like Heartbreak Hill from the Boston Marathon. I've been doing it ever since, but am much more literal with my names. The hill on 68th street near my place is called "Long legs Larry". It's not a hard hill, but it's just annoying to have to run up it every single time I run home! When I run it I literally picture Mr. Long Legs Larry running it ahead of me. He's your average 40-something runner- I know you have since him around town. His short-shorts make you blush a little because you simply can't stop staring at his sculpted legs. He's married to Super-Fast Sarah, who has every bit of passion he has for running, and on the weekends they push their kids in the stroller and run as a family. They would never be afraid of a hill, in fact they embrace them. Picturing them running ahead of me inspires me to push harder through that hill and become a runner with the rights to wear short-shorts.
The rolling hills I was talking about before, needed names. I was getting antsy running them. There were a pair of them around the 20 minute mark, and I needed something friendly. They became Calvin and Carl- brothers of course. Carl wasn't so bad, but Calvin was brutal. Coming back after the turn around was MUCH harder, and I had to dig a lot deeper to get up Calvin, but push I did and finished the run strong.
For my 11 mile run, Wendi (Phil's mom) drove us 11 miles away from the cabin and dropped us off. I was so thankful for her doing that. When you're 11 miles away, you don't really have any other choice but to run. If you walk, you're only going to get there slower. There we stood in the middle of the road, and started our run. As I said in the beginning I was nervous about this run because it was the farthest I've went since my 1/2 marathon. Our goal was to run it between 1:45-1:50, and ended up at 1:44. 9:30/mile, which I'm really pleased with. I had a small patch around 45 minutes in where I freaked that I still had an hour to go. Shortly after that, Wendi came by with some water. It was more refreshing than words can describe. Seriously, how nice is that? I wish I always had someone to drop off water and a towel on my long runs!
I know I'm sounding really new-age here and keep talking about what I'm doing mentally but honestly that's the real battle. Bodies are made to do amazing things and for me my challenge is comes from trusting my body won't fail. I read an article about mantras, in fact I think I've talked about them in an earlier post. I had one during this run that really got me through it. It was so easy to focus on the strength of training that has led me to the run I was doing.
The route ended on the old gravel road, and I finished the hills (even Calvin and Carl) mentally and physically stronger than the runs earlier in the week. We ran right into the water and soaked our feet. It felt amazing to have the first long run of training completed. Now I feel more confident that I will be OK, and I can handle the training.
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