I just ran 18 miles and I FEEL GREAT!!!

I just finished my longest run of the training season so far - a whopping 18 miles. And I feel great. It wasn't a monumental journey - in fact I swear that the 16 miler was much more difficult - but there are some things about the run I want to note.

At 5:30 am my alarm went off signaling it was time for me to get out of my cozy bed and get ready for a grueling 18 mile run. I snoozed for 15 minutes, during which I dreamed that I had completed the 18 miles already. At 5:45, I leaned over and woke Steve up. It was raining outside and I really didn't want to drive all the way to Reston Virginia. Don't you need a passport to get there? And I really didn't want to run 18 miles. Steve was only half awake, but managed to tell me to get up - that the hardest part of today would be the drive to VA and the first 2 miles. He said everything else will go by fast. Just get there.

Easy for him to say, laying in bed wrapped up in the covers fading off into dreamland. But I took his advice and got out of bed and got dressed. In the fridge were leftovers from last night's dinner - vegetarian pizza from Ducchini's. By this time it was too late to sit down and eat a bowl of cereal or fruit, so I grabbed a piece of cold pizza, wrapped it in a paper towel, and ate it in the car on my way to Reston. The rain stopped just as I got off the highway at the exit to meet our group. Good sign.

I arrived at the run site in time to hear the morning announcements from our coaches. We were running Northwest on the W&OD Trail starting at mile 17, going up to mile 22, then turning around and running to mile 13, and back again to mile 17. It seemed manageable when I mentally broke it down into 3 legs of 6 miles each. I found Carolyn, Bob, Megan and Megan's cousin Al (he is training for the Richmond Marathon and comes up here to run the longer runs with us) and as always I was glad. We started out on the trail just as the sun was coming up. It was a pretty sight. Another good sign.

The rest of the run is pretty boring so I won't write a play by play per mile. The only thing I can say that was a little odd is that somewhere around mile 7 my stomach started cramping up. I totally regretted eating the pizza and as I was thinking about it, I remembered why. Last night I had to pick off all the jalepenos before I ate - not a good thing to have spicy food in your stomach before a big run like this. But this morning I was in such a rush, and was half asleep until I got to the run site, and forgot to remove the hot peppers from my pizza. My stomach was telling me what a bad idea it was. I pulled out my Ipod and listened to one song in order to get my mind off of the peppers and the cramping in my stomach. I don't know for sure what made all of the cramping stop - but after one song I felt better. I put my Ipod away and joined the group again for the remaining 11 miles.

It was an awesome run. Seems as though everything lined up for us to have a perfect day out on the trail. Even the bikers were nice to us -- I couldn't believe it. We ran the entire 18 miles under sunny skies - zero humidity - perfect 70 degree temperature. As always, the company was wonderful and we kept each other going strong even as we tackled the hills. It almost felt like we were in some kind of Marathon Training Wonderland. Also, I drank about 432 gallons of water on Thursday and Friday, which helped a lot. I never felt tired or thirsty - just strong and happy and even proud.

When we finished the race, the teams were gathered around the food table. It is an interesting sight: happy, tired runners whose faces are still red from running and striped with white salt streaks , shoving bagels and pretzels and peanut butter into their mouths, talking about what a great run they had. I overheard one person say that the 18 miles "was cake compared to the 16". I could not agree more. I was craving a pickle sandwich and realized that nothing at the table was going to sate me right away, so I munched on a power bar to replenish and drove back to DC. When I arrived, I showered (best shower ever), dressed and made my lunch (YUM) and thought about what an awesome experience I just had. I had to write it down right away so I wouldn't forget.

For the next two weeks we have 10 mile runs which are both in DC (no passport, yay!). The 20 miler is back in Reston - same trail as today - on the 29th. Believe it or not, I am actually looking forward to it.

;-)

Thanks to all of you who have supported this cause. I cannot tell you how much your support has helped me - mile after mile. Even more, your support has helped others who suffer from Lymphoma, Leukemia, and other blood/bone cancers like Myeloma, the one my Aunt Ann is fighting. Research in this area has saved so many lives, including Aunt Ann, and will continue to do so as we advance into the future. For those of you who wish to donate, click HERE.

Your donation is also tax deductible - let me know if you need any info on this. Thank you again so much for your encouragement. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!