Saturday's run...

Like I said in my previous post, it's been a while since I've updated my blog. My running was some what at a stand still due to my ITBS and then I got a cold that caused a lot of congestion in my chest. That and I got distracted by doing other things and I feel horrible that I have let them get in my way but it has woken me up and has put me back where I need to be.

I did a few runs towards the end of February. Nothing big. I did about 2 miles and the next day I did 4 miles. The funny thing, my IT bands were a little tight but I could tell that they were getting better and that really excited me. I'm guessing those things that distracted me, happened for a reason and I received some well needed rest.

I was receiving emails from my coaches about Saturday's run and I about dropped my phone when they said it was scheduled to go 18 miles. My first thought was, "There is no way 18 miles is going to happen." I then started to worry because the marathon is a little over a month away. Thoughts of, "If you can't even do 18 miles now, how are you going to do 26.2 in a month?" I can't explain how stressed out I got about it. The only thing I could do was try my best and see what happened. I was literally praying the night before that my IT bands would not cause me problems.

I wake up Saturday morning feeling pretty good. I meet my team at Sugarhouse park, get in some good stretches, start my watch and I'm off. I was getting pretty tired and looked down at my watch and it reads, 0.90 miles. "This thing must be broke." I thought. The harsh reality is that it wasn't broke. About mile 2 I started to feel good. Mile 4 felt good as well. I got to my aid station at about mile 4. Loaded up on a energy gel pack and some gatorade and water and kept going. The IT bands the whole time did not bother me. I was expecting them to but they never did. About mile 8 I felt myself hit what we call, "our wall". Basically you feel like you are completely out of energy and your body is telling you to stop. This is when mind over matter comes in to play. My coach, his name is Te Koi, really helped me out during that time. I was running by myself and if he wasn't there, there's no way I would have been able to finish. He encouraged me along the way and gave me nothing but positive feedback. We also talked a bit and laughed.

After mile 10 and 11, the miles just started to roll. My watch beeped at me every mile. The miles were going so fast that I thought my watch had to have been broken but it wasn't. Next thing I knew, I was at mile 15. I felt tired but I was more excited about not having pain in my IT bands and I couldn't help but think about Dillon and others fighting this disease. I really focused on why I was running and that was for others and not for myself. I enjoyed every single second of my run, even had a smile on my face believe it or not.

Little did I know that mile 16 would not be my best friend. Like I said above, I was the only one running that day and Te Koi was meeting me at every aid station. Some how I ended up getting confused and lost my way. I had no idea where I was going or where I was at. I asked for directions and of course, 3 out of the 4 people I asked gave me wrong directions. After much back tracking, I asked a lady that was running and she got me back on course, should have asked a runner to begin with but with that many miles already, I couldn't catch any of them.

To say the least, I made my way back to Sugarhouse park where the run began. My coaches were worried and it made me feel good to know that they take this seriously. I was certain they were going to be mad at me but they were not. When I got back to Sugarhouse, I looked at my watch and it said 19 miles. I couldn't believe my eyes. It still does not feel like I ran that long and to me it hasn't hit me how long that is and I don't think it ever will because I had such a great time running.

This training has really given me a new perspective on life. Sure there are plenty of things to complain about in life but I am learning what is worth complaining and what is not worth complaining about. During my run when I would start to feel tired and the miles started to get to me, I would look up at the mountains and enjoy the scenery around me. I would think about why I was running to begin with. I've learned to look past some of the discomforts in life and focus on the bigger picture which is being happy no matter what you are doing. I'm not perfect with that but I am growing.