I am the strongest.

Saturday I ran longer than I have ever run in my life. EIGHTEEN MILES. Let's have a moment of silence to honor my awesomeness.

I was nervous about Saturday's run. Prior to this, the longest run I had ever done was 16 miles. However, I feel like I sort of cheated because I had the adrenaline from a race and a 4 mile downhill to help me out. The last time I tried to run just a regular long training route was when I ran/suffered through 15 miles. I gave up and walked for part of that run and I was terrified that I would do the same thing this time. Even worse, it was the same route.

The route consisted of two loops - the first was a 6 mile loop ending back where we started and the second was a 14 mile out-n-back totaling 20 miles. Because we only had to do 18, we took off 20 minutes after our group and headed in the opposite direction, catching them after they had done 4. That way, we only do our 18.

Within the first mile of running with the group, our friend Carolyn eats it. Her shoe caught a crack in the sidewalk and she face planted into the cement. It looked awful. Everyone stopped, she caught her breath and demanded we keep moving. What a champ. That was a big inspiration. Less than a mile after that, another guy takes a dive. Throughout the day there were at least 2 more serious trips. Clearly, after that, my eyes did not leave the sidewalk. They say it was a beautiful day - I'll take their word for it :)

I ate a Gu packet after 4 miles. We headed out on the first half of the out-n-back. 7 miles. It went great. Just as great as it had three weeks ago when I ran the first half of my 15. I ate another Gu packet and we turned around and headed back. 11 down, 7 to go. That first step on the way back hurt. My IT band was tightening up on my knee. It took me a good five minutes to get it worked out. I felt my Gu packet kick in around a mile and a half in on the way back. I knew that I could do this...

Around 16 miles I wanted to stop. Bad. Nothing really hurt - my lungs were fine, my legs were fine, but I was tired. I was done. It was everything in me to keep one foot in front of the other. It was at that point that my running angels approached me. Carolyn running behind me says, "Lisa, you look really strong. Nice work." Mike is, of course, telling me how much I kick ass and how proud of me he is. Bill, our pace leader, starts running next to me and gives me a lesson on affirmations. He had me saying "I am the STRONGEST" over in my head for the remaining two miles. Another runner, Brian, came and talked to me about - I can't even remember, but I remember that it helped me out.

And then it was over. 18 miles. Done. I ran 18 miles.