When 12 MIles Equals 13

On Friday, I had planned to run 12 miles, my longest run yet.  Life got in the way so I planned to do it Saturday.

Saturday morning, we had to get out early for soccer pictures and then two games.  It was a cool and cloudy day and I knew it was going to be a nice day to run.  I was looking forward to it.

By the time we got home, the sun was out and it was 70.  Not what I was expecting.  I couldn't do it later in the evening because we had a sitter and dinner plans and I wanted Sunday to be our day to just be together without any worries.   

So, at 1pm I set out for my run. 

I ran the neighborhood before I set up the dreaded hill and was hot already.  It seems to always take a few miles to find my groove and Saturday, it was no different.  Mile three was not great, I was hot and I had those negative voices in my head telling me to just go home and do it in the morning.  Somehow, by the end of mile three, I felt good and mile four was my fastest.  

Crazy how that happens right?  One minute it sucks the next, you are having the best run of your life.

In mile 5, my water bottle was almost empty and I knew I needed to fill up.  I was a mile and a half from my house and about 2 miles to the next store where I could of bought something.  Then I realized, I was passing a friends house so I just stopped there hoping they were home.  They were, I filled up and thanked them and went on my way.  So nice to live in a small town.  

I changed my route up a little because of the extra miles.  And it was nice.  It was hot but it really was a beautiful day and I was enjoying it.  

When I hit mile eight, I thought I should turn around but after second thought, I thought I would be short the 12 miles and still have to run when I got to my door.  I decided to go to nine and then turn, thinking it would be exact.  Things went down hill from there.

I did not fuel properly and I only drank water.  It wasn't clear to me at the time, but I needed something like a gatorade or NUUN.  I also had a GU but didn't take it.  Don't ask me why, I have no idea.

In mile eleven, the back of my legs tightened up and I found it hard to take a step.  I stopped and stretched and and ran until I hit twelve.  That was, unfortunately, a mile from my house.  I calculated wrong, my legs hurt and I just wanted to stop.  

After a moment of deep breathing and more stretching, I decided I could make it.  I started to run again. Once I got to the hill and started down to my house, my legs were screaming.  I called Mr. RWM and told him to get an ice bath ready.  

For some reason, as I was running down the hill, I decided to stop my Pandora radio and Endomondo, I guess my thought was I was going straight into the tub and didn't want to have to stop and turn everything off and taking off my shoes was going to be challenging enough.  When I hit stop it said, 12.93 miles.  Shoot, I still had a little to go and I am sure it would of read 13 exactly.  

When I walked into my house, my kids were cheering for me which was really cool.   They both thought it was funny that daddy was putting ice in the tub for mommy.  When they saw me get in with my clothes on, they really laughed.  I was also given a mermaid barbie to play with.  Thanks kids!

I sat in the tub and had a hard time putting my legs straight.  It was Mr. RWM who started to drill me on what I ate and drank and when I told him I ate nothing and only drank water, he ran down the stairs for Gatorade and pretzels.  I promised him and I promise you, I will never do that again.  Lesson learned the hard way.  I know better too, which makes it even worse.  

My hip did well while I was running which I was happy about.  I am still going to have it checked out and if it is nothing or an easy fix, there is a race I will do Sunday.  I will tell you more about that after I see the doctor.

There is not doubt in my mind that I will successfully complete 13.1 miles and do it under 3 hours.  Nike is less than a month away and every day, I get more excited.

Tell me what you drink on your long runs and how do you carry it?  What mistakes have you made along the way of your running journey?  

Run Strong, Think Big!