Ridiculousness

I ran 32 miles last week. I will run 29 this week and 36 next week. Imagine how long it takes you to drive that far - that helps me to realize how ridiculous this is.

As we get up in mileage, I am starting to learn, first-hand, about things that real athletes go through in order to train.

Eating and drinking. You know my stance on carbo loading, but the focus on eating in general is just crazy. Every Saturday morning I eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Anyone can tell you that peanut butter and jelly sandwich is a lunch item. Lucky Charms are a breakfast item. However, when we run as much as we do, apparently I need the fat or calories or sugar or something. On Fridays, I have to be sure to hydrate. You can't drink a lot of water before a run or you will have to pee a lot. So you have to be sure to hydrate the day before. And everyone knows that water is not the beverage of choice on a Friday evening...

Vitamins. I really really really hate taking vitamins. They always get caught in my throat and, if I haven't had enough to eat, they make me sick. While training, I have been sure to take them regularly as I know my bones and blood and all that good stuff needs what those vitamins have.

Chafing. Okay, so I didn't realize this one until my first 13 mile run. Mind you, I wear the uber top-of-the-line sports bra and it works great until 13 miles. After that, no luck. I have permanent bruns/scabs around my torso where my sports bra hits. Once this marathon is long gone, I will most likely be left with some pretty awesome scarring. This week I went out and bought Body Glide. It is like deodorant for your skin that helps with chafing. Let me just say, it is utterly embarrassing walking up to a (male) Sports Authority employee asking him, "um, do you know where your Body Glide is?" I tried using it this past Wednesday and it seems to work pretty well. Still though, Body Glide? Am I really to the point where I need to use Body Glide?

"Aid". During your run, whatever you eat and drink is referred to as "aid". Up until recently "aid" to me was a bottle of water. Then it turned into some Gatorade. Now I am at the point where I am eating Gu. I never ever imagined or dreamed that I would come to a point in my life where I would ever do something that necessitated Gu. I remember people telling me before I started running that marathoners need to eat while they run. I honestly pictured a person running along with bowl of macaroni and cheese thinking, "how weird. I wonder how that works." Unfortunately, I don't get to eat mac-n-cheese. Just Gu. Little packets of gel. mmm

Pain. I have been sore for 3 months. Seriously. I wake up in the morning, stretch, and notice at least 4 different parts of my body that hurt. Not severe pain, just achy. After runs, I get to feel my muscles tighten up. My feet hurt. I learned what my IT band is and that I need to do stretches a lot to make sure it doesn't leave me in pain. And then there is the pain associated with that last mile of any run. It's good and bad but its always there.

There are so many more things - dogs, cars, shoes, clothes, the right underwear, running belts, lack of sleep, lack of social time, lack of friends :) etc. - that people endure to train. It is a blast learning about all of it. I laugh a lot. I don't know if I will ever do something like this again. One thing I do know is that I have so much respect for all of those real athletes out there - the ones that wake up every day to run or bike or swim or lift. All to reach a goal. They truly inspire me.

But seriously guys, the chafing is unbearable.