April 27, 2012

The one where we ran 20 miles... voluntarily.

I've had the most exhausting day!! That is why this post is late. Normally I write in the afternoon and publish it at 5 pm, but this is the first chance I've had to sit down.

Our 20-miler almost didn't happen today. Thankfully, I have an AMAZING mom who changed her schedule around to help me out. But let me back up...

I got up at 5:30 this morning to eat breakfast and get dressed, and just feel "ready" to go run 20 miles. Jerry (bless his amazing heart!) packed the boys' lunches and laid out their school clothes and all that so I could have an "easy" morning. I got Noah ready for school, and then woke Eli up at 7:15. He tried to get out of bed, and discovered that he couldn't walk. Again. Remember when this happened a few months ago? Turns out he had the flu which did something to the muscles in his legs, and he had to spend 2 weeks home from school recovering.

Jerry was working, and I couldn't send Eli to school when he couldn't even walk! I called my mom, and started crying on the phone--I had been planning this 20-miler for months, and we had plans to celebrate it tonight. Despite the fact that she was going to go into the office (she works as a contingent employee since retiring), she dropped everything to come over and take care of Eli so that I could do my run as planned. She even called the doctor's office when they opened and set up and appointment for 2:45 today.

I was really upset about leaving, but my mom kept reassuring me it was fine. So I met Jessica as usual and we headed to our favorite trail for our run. We took a video before we started (I have a few videos from various runs, and I'm hoping to put them all together after the marathon). And then we were off. We started with a loop around the park where we had parked the car. I forgot to put on sunscreen, so we didn't get very far before I looped back to the car to put on the sunscreen.

We headed out for 4.25 miles and then turned around to go back to the car. I ate a chocolate Gu at 5 miles, and felt pretty good until mile 7 when my knee started bothering me. We went over the overpass, which I always think is fun to see all the cars go by underneath us...

We even saw some cows right after that...

We got back to the car to refill our water at mile 8, and then we circled the park again (which we weren't supposed to do, according to our route!) and we headed out for the next out-and-back route through the Metropark.

We went through that dirt path for a mile and a half, which I think is when my knee really started acting up. I think maybe the uneven ground did something. Running on these wooden bridges actually felt really good underfoot...


With the exception of my knee, I felt AWESOME for the first 13-14 miles or so. I've learned that the 13-14 mile mark is when things get TOUGH while training. I was really nervous for mile 16 because that is where I hit the wall last time. I had a peanut butter Gu at mile 10, and we refilled our water bottles at a water fountain at mile 13 ish.

We turned around a little before we were supposed to because we realized that we had circled the park and added about 1/2 mile to our run. We refilled our water one more time before heading out of the park for the last 4 miles. I didn't want to risk running out of water like last time!

I never did hit the wall this time; I kept well-hydrated and slowed down when I felt I needed to. My heart rate stayed really consistent throughout the run (last time, when I hit the wall, my heart rate got up to 170! Normally, it's about 145 on a long run). Jessica was really feeling the exhaustion this time. It's interesting, when I feel good, she feels bad, and vice versa. We're good running partners! When I saw we just had 2 miles left, I knew we would do it. We didn't have a choice, really, because we had to get back to the car ;)

When we finally hit mile 20, we were a good half mile from the car still.
This is the 20-mile mark. The car wasn't even in sight!
20 miles, run and done
 We were both limping and hobbling that last half mile, and SO relieved to be done. We very slowly sat in the grass and made another video and took a few pictures.
Our pace was actually pretty good. We usually have a pace of about 11:20-11:30/mi for our long runs, and today our pace ended up being 11:01/mi.
And our splits:



When I got home, it was already 1:30. I jumped (well, limped) into the shower and once I was done and dressed, I had to take Eli to the doctor. I spent about 30 seconds wolfing down a bowl of cereal for lunch, and I drove him to the doctor for his 2:45 appointment. The squeezed us in, so we had to wait a long time--45 minutes! The doctor doesn't think this is at all related to the first time this happened; he thinks it's an injury from playing, like jumping on the trampoline.

I wasn't too sure about that, but since he has no other symptoms, I don't know. The doctor said just to be on the safe side, he was going to order a bunch of tests. Blood work, x-rays, and urinalysis. He said that with all of that, if something is wrong, we will know it.

So from the office, I headed over to the hospital for all that work-up he needed. We had to register, then go to the lab to have his blood drawn, then go to radiology for x-rays. Basically it took a long time of mostly waiting. Finally left at 4:45, and I just got home and started typing this out. I'm hoping the doctor will call with the results tonight.

Now I have half an hour to get ready to go out for dinner and martinis with friends. Jeesh! I'm going to sleep well tonight ;)



38 comments:

  1. Wow! Just WOW! You amaze and inspire me over and over again.

    Hope Eli is feeling well really soon and that it's nothing serious.

    Cheering you on! Enjoy your night out :)

    ~Ang
    http://droppingtheplus.blogspot.com/

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  2. You are so awesome. Way to go!

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  3. Holy Cow!! 20 miles! You rock - what a day. 20 miles and i'd be done.

    I'm keeping Eli in my thoughts that he's feeling better soon.

    Enjoy your martini!

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  4. Awesome job today!!!

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  5. I'm exhausted just reading this ;)

    Way to go!

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  6. You are FREAKING AWESOME! Enjoy your night... :)

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  7. yayy congrats on the 20 miler!! It was a perfect day for it. Hopefully the knee is feeling better.

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  8. You are INCREDIBLE! You inspire me to achieve success in my weight loss and running efforts! Enjoy your celebration tonight!

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  9. Wait, no walking?!? You are both awesome. Can't wait to get there one day, maybe next year.

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    Replies
    1. We did the 9:1 thing, per usual lately. But showing all 40 splits of that just seemed way too much!

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    2. Your time was awesome, WITH walking!!!

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    3. Oh but you didn't show it in your splits like you have previously.

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  10. Way to go on the 20-miler! It's hard for me to wrap my head around a run that long when 3-miles feels like aneternity for me - lol.

    Poor Eli! Could this be related to his fever / hyperventilating from the other night? At least with all the tests you should have some answers soon.

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  11. Wow. Simply amazing! & did I read your splits correctly- no walking?! Awesome!

    Hope you get test results back soon & everything is okay with Eli.

    I also hope you have an awesome time tonight celebrating- as you should!

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  12. Congratulations! That's awesome!

    Hope Eli is ok, sending well wishes his way :)

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  13. Way to go, Katie!! That is so awesome! As a mama myself, I could just FEEL your worry and panic in the morning when Eli woke up - not only for him but for this very big day you had planned. I am so glad it all worked out!! Cheers to you!

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  14. Great job!!! You give me motivation! Tomorrow I am doing a virtual 5k. I have 3.15 miles marked out on campus. Hopefully my shins won't hurt!

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  15. You did it! Congrats!

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  16. Whew--what a day! I can't even imagine running for over 3 hours, I probably couldn't even walk that long, definitely not that far! Hope little Eli gets better soon, thank goodness for moms--yours is a saint!

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  17. Yay for making 20 miles!! Hope everything is ok with Eli!

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  18. Wow, you are amazing!!! Enjoy your celebratory dinner/drinks tonight!!

    I hope Eli feels better soon and it's nothing serious!

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  19. LoveAnAnimalApril 27, 2012

    Impressive! 20 miles! You definitely earned a day of chilling on the sofa tomorrow and resting! Hope little Eli is not in pain. Get well soon Eli!

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  20. Congrats! it looks like you ran the whole thing vs the run/walk. Is that correct? If so why did you decide to do that on the long run?

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    Replies
    1. No, we did the 9:1 thing again. I just didn't want to go on and on about it, because I feel like I'm getting redundant ;)

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    2. Your time was really good, especially when you are walking in there too!

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  21. Amazing, Katie! Did you run/walk or run straight through? I hope Eli is feeling better today!

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  22. You guys are going to have an amazing pace for the marathon !

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  23. Wow!! I can't believe you managed to get through all you had to yesterday! Hope the margaritas were great and that Eli is feeling much better today!

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  24. CONGRATS! Im glad things went well on your run. BEST WISHES to your baby :) Hope all is well

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  25. A hearty congratulations to you and Jessica! You girls are amazing, and should be so proud of the HUGE accomplishment! Whoo hoo!!!!

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  26. I typed up a response but it disappeared because I wasn't logged into my Google account! Awesome run! What's exciting to me is that if I could just up my mileage, I could keep up with your pace! Woohoo! I hope Eli is ok. I have never heard of that, it sounds like a medical mystery for Dr. House! ;)

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  27. I hope Eli gets better soon!

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  28. Hope your little guy is ok.
    Awesome run!!! Awesome pace!! You rocked out 20 miles and that is HUGE. Way to go!

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  29. Great Job!! What an accomplishment!!
    Hope Eli is feeling better!
    Love the blog post name, made me think of Friends :)

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  30. Way to persevere!

    I love everything about your blog, about your journey...seriously, when I am thinking that one day I hope to be able to run a marathon, that is nothing short of miraculous!

    Hope your son gets feeling better!

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  31. TWENTY MILES!!!! Amazing! I love that you have a great running partner too. It really makes a big difference! My friend, abby, and I have been running together the last few weeks. She's training for her first full marathon and I am training for my first half marathon! Our long runs our different but she just leaves before I do and we meet up to finish out our mileage. On Tuesday she will be doing 18 and I will be doing 10 again.
    Hope Eli is feeling better! Will say a prayer for him.

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  32. Nothing worse than a sick kiddo. Hoping all those tests give you answers. Yippee for the strong run!

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  33. Wow. Congratulations on 20 miles! It's also awesome how the people in your life support your goals. I love how you illustrate making it all happen. Good luck with your upcoming marathon!

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I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

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