15 done!
I was hoping to come back here and say that 15 miles was easy, that it was over before I knew it. That wasn't the case; it was the hardest physical thing that I've ever done. But I'm home, showered, peanut butter and jelly sandwiched and lived to tell the tale.
A mile by mile overview:
Mile 0-1 - I had my new water belt on and carrying 3 bouncy bottles of water isn't exactly comfortable. I figured that it added at least a pound. My legs felt heavy from the start. The water bottles added to the heaviness.
Miles 1-5 - I started to feel a little bit better. I realized that I had the water belt on backwards. That helped. I ran through Virginia-Higlands. It's one of my favorite places to run because of all the people watching. There were tons of people walking down the streets, window shopping and having brunch with friends at outdoor cafes taking advantage of the weird weather. For a while, I wanted to be those people. I wanted to be with my friends at Belly or Moe's and Joe's eating an omlette or drinking a Bloody Mary. Instead I was running 15 miles. I wondered why exactly I chose to subject myself to this sort of well...torture.
Miles 5-6.5 - I ate a Gu. I was feeling lethargic. I'd never tried Gu before. I've read up on fueling oneself during long runs and basically everything said to just experiment and see what your body likes. I'd heard that Gu tastes bad. This one, Chocolate Outrage, wasn't bad, per se. It wasn't good either. It kind of tasted like cake icing. It did help boost my energy a bit.
Miles 6.5-7 - Apparently, the Gu energy boost was short lived. I was on Ponce, where it splits. To the left is Scott Blvd and to the right is W. Ponce which goes up a big hill into Decatur. I went right. I had run this hill millions of times. It's not a particularly steep hill, just long. But today, I just couldn't. I tried to tell myself that nothing was hurting, that I could, in fact, do it. But I didn't. I walked up the hill.
Mile 7 - I knew that I was not anywhere near finished so I ate another Gu. I thought I had one bottle of water left but realized that I had drank all three.
Miles 7 - 10 - Nothing to note. I was getting thirsty. I ran by Tim's old condo. I thought about how I haven't talked to him on the phone since I visited San Diego in the summer. Thought about how he made my summer really fun before he moved.
Mile 11 - Now I was getting really thirsty. I stopped at a pizza place and asked for a glass of water. The guy offered to fill up my bottles and we chatted about the marathon.
Miles 11-15 - Thought I was going to die many times. Cursed myself for putting my body through such agony.
And a marathon is nine more miles? Wha??
A mile by mile overview:
Mile 0-1 - I had my new water belt on and carrying 3 bouncy bottles of water isn't exactly comfortable. I figured that it added at least a pound. My legs felt heavy from the start. The water bottles added to the heaviness.
Miles 1-5 - I started to feel a little bit better. I realized that I had the water belt on backwards. That helped. I ran through Virginia-Higlands. It's one of my favorite places to run because of all the people watching. There were tons of people walking down the streets, window shopping and having brunch with friends at outdoor cafes taking advantage of the weird weather. For a while, I wanted to be those people. I wanted to be with my friends at Belly or Moe's and Joe's eating an omlette or drinking a Bloody Mary. Instead I was running 15 miles. I wondered why exactly I chose to subject myself to this sort of well...torture.
Miles 5-6.5 - I ate a Gu. I was feeling lethargic. I'd never tried Gu before. I've read up on fueling oneself during long runs and basically everything said to just experiment and see what your body likes. I'd heard that Gu tastes bad. This one, Chocolate Outrage, wasn't bad, per se. It wasn't good either. It kind of tasted like cake icing. It did help boost my energy a bit.
Miles 6.5-7 - Apparently, the Gu energy boost was short lived. I was on Ponce, where it splits. To the left is Scott Blvd and to the right is W. Ponce which goes up a big hill into Decatur. I went right. I had run this hill millions of times. It's not a particularly steep hill, just long. But today, I just couldn't. I tried to tell myself that nothing was hurting, that I could, in fact, do it. But I didn't. I walked up the hill.
Mile 7 - I knew that I was not anywhere near finished so I ate another Gu. I thought I had one bottle of water left but realized that I had drank all three.
Miles 7 - 10 - Nothing to note. I was getting thirsty. I ran by Tim's old condo. I thought about how I haven't talked to him on the phone since I visited San Diego in the summer. Thought about how he made my summer really fun before he moved.
Mile 11 - Now I was getting really thirsty. I stopped at a pizza place and asked for a glass of water. The guy offered to fill up my bottles and we chatted about the marathon.
Miles 11-15 - Thought I was going to die many times. Cursed myself for putting my body through such agony.
And a marathon is nine more miles? Wha??
posted by Lee at 4:10 PM
7 Comments:
Uhm. Interesting comment ^^^^^^^^
Great job on your run. The Banana Blitz (?) Gu is my personal favorite. Second is Vanilla Bean.
I'll have to try those kinds, Lauren.
YAY!
i personally like HammerGels (ok, don't like, but don't hate) -- the raspberry and apple cinnamon. and the orange power gels are ok to me too (and have double caffeine).
chocolate gel sounds so repulsive to me for some reason.
Sarah, it really tasted a lot like very sweet frosting.
Uhm. Oh, and a marathon is 11 miles more, not 9. :p
Oops, Haha, it is 11 more. Well, that's even worse!
Good job on your 15 miler! I can only hope I somehow crawl through 20 next Saturday. Oy.
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