You're ready

Saturday I ran longer than I have ever run in my life. TWENTY MILES. Okay, so I didn't run the entire thing, so I think that 18 is the furthest that I have run to date, but I moved my butt 20 miles.

Today was the day that I have been nervous about for months. I would have to run 20 miles after running 20 miles during the week. It consisted of a half marathon and 7 miles afterward.

Half marathon: Race for the Roses. Amazing race. So so so amazing. We met Laura and Carolyn before the race as they also needed to do 20 and wanted to run with us. We were all nervous. So silly, but it's the way it is :) We checked our dry clothes, went to the bathroom, and off we went. The race went great. There were a few uphills but the downhills were awesome making it all worth it. I must say, it was hard thinking that "halfway" for the day was the 10 mile marker. There was a killer hill at the end of the race, but we fought through it and finished. I think our time was around 2:12 which I was very happy about. (I will post the official time when it is posted online)

We ran through the finish and didn't stop. They were handing out roses, but we ran right past. Seven more miles. Let's go.

Around mile 12 of the race, I felt as though I wanted to quit as soon as we crossed the finish line. But when we passed the finish line, I knew that I could finish it and I just had to push through. I made it about 2 miles at training pace before I let the pain in my legs get the better of me. We told Laura and Carolyn to take off and run ahead and we would be behind them. I trudged on with Mike's support telling me that it doesn't matter how slow we go as long as I keep one foot in front of the other. We started walking then running then walking then running. I was chanting "I am strong, I am trained, I am courageous". I made my self laugh when, subconsciously, my chant changed to, "I am strong, I am in pain, I am courageous" :) We probably walked the last half mile or so. My legs hurt. But you know what, I ran a half marathon in a respectable time and I moved my butt 20 miles.

Laura and Carolyn were waiting for us at the end. They both knew that my legs hurt. Laura turned to me and said, "take a few days off. At this point, you're ready, you just need to make sure that you can stand at the starting line without pain." Clearly, an awesome running buddy. The thing that caught me off guard was her comment "you're ready". Holy crap. I am essentially done marathon training. At this point, I am just trying to keep fitness until the marathon. Oh, and rest. This is it. I'm ready. Weird.

We headed inside the convention center to grab our clothes and snacks. At that point, the place was pretty empty. They had granola, yogurt, oranges, and coffee. It was amazing. We sat down at a table and ate, chatted, and enjoyed being done. Mike and I went and got our finisher's photo taken - I will post that as soon as we get it. It will be a wonderful memory of the last long training run.

Bring on Eugene. I'm ready.