Seen on My Long Run

This past weekend I tackled 18 miles as part of my training for the Bemidji Marathon. 18 milers are historically terrible for Jerbear, so I tried to do everything right in the 48 hours leading up to the run. Hydrating, compression socking, eating. I did the run solo, but I had some random interactions over the three hours I wanted to share.

• I saw a muskrat! At least I'm pretty sure that's what it was. It looked like a small beaver without the beaver tail. I wanted to investigate but didn't want to be attacked.

• Senator John Thune! I used to see him out running pretty frequently but haven't seen him in at least 2-3 years.
• A mama and teeny tiny baby deer. I once went to a wildlife park where you could walk and pet the deer, but not the baby deer. These baby deer were even tinier than those deer. So cute. So much squeeeee.
• A girl texting and running. I think I'd accidentally run into the river.
• Another deer.

And then while I was passing a dude around mile 13, I told him good morning, and we ended up running together for a few miles chatting away. I felt like I was going to die toward the end of our time together, and after looking through my splits during that mile, I see why. We were cruising at 10 minute pace and chatting away. Woof.

18 Miles of Thoughts

18 miles is a long ways to run.  Every time I set out for a long-long run I wonder, hmm.... will this be the long run where 3 hours starts to be easy?  Answer:  no.

So here's a collection of my random thoughts from Sunday's 18 miler:

• Well my left calf hurts at minute 1.  This should make for an excellent long run.  Stop.  Adjust compression sock down so that knee strap feels better.  Continue on.
• Only 17 miles to go!  OMG that seems like forever, please stop doing a mental countdown.
• Oh hey, there's Ed, running with a couple of chicks.  Those chicks look like they're my speed.  Come baaaaaack chicks!!
• Garmin beeps low battery at mile 7.  You've *got* to be kidding me.  That thing was fully charged when I left.  If I have to buy a new garmin before the marathon I'm going to be SUPER annoyed.
• Welp, water fountain at 7.3 is still possessed.  (It shoots about 4 feet in the air.  Pretty hilarious.  Unless you're trying to fill your water bottle on a 3 hour run, then not so hilar.)
• Oh hai college runners.
• Oh hai HS prom date.
• Wind is still a b.
• Finally to the turn around.  What's my split?  Oh, watch is dead NOW?  Cool.  (Kyle asked, how do you know that you ran 18 miles if your watch died halfway???  Uh because 9x2=18.  heh)
• Wheeeeeeeeee wind at my back.  That lasts about 2 minutes and then I no longer feel the effects of the wind.
• I wish I was fast again.  I went through my training log to get an idea of what my MGP should be based on my LRs, and I typically was running my LRs about a minute/mile faster than I am right now.  But HEY, my 18 miler was 20 minutes faster than the one in 90 degrees in August, so PROGRESS.
• Hmm... I was about 10 pounds lighter when running my best races.  There's probably something to that.  Maybe that's the one minute/mile difference.
• I can't WAIT for pizza and beer after this run.  (hahah.)
• Alright, my knee can NOT take these compression socks anymore.  There is too much pressure on my knee due to the tightness of the top of the sock.  Sit on the side of the bike trail.  Remove shoes, remove socks.  Put shoes back on.  Pray for no blisters.  Tie compression socks together to make a bracelet of sorts.  Decide the bracelet is too bouncy.  Carry compression socks for the remaining 8 miles.
• Oh hai HS prom date again. (To which he got a high five from my sweaty compression socked hand.  Eew.)
• OMG I'M BORED.
• Oh, my music is off, I should turn that back on.
• Nope, still bored.
• What mile am I at??
• How fast am I running?
• I wonder what my HR is?  I'm guessing 155.  
• It's kind of chilly in the shade.
• I'm bored.
• Mental note:  brain tends to break down ALWAYS in the middle 3/4 of a run.  Prepare for that during the marathon.
• Zoned out.
• GU, sweet glorious GU.
• Puppies at the dog park.  Ruff!
• OMG that was the longest five mile stretch of my life.
• Turns up music really loud to zone out.  Somehow out of thoughts for the first time in my life.
• I wonder if Kyle will just KNOW to have Redrossa pizza ready for my return.  Sends telepathic message to Kyle and Ollie with margherita pizza requested.
• 2 miles left.  Hey, if this were a marathon, you'd still have TEN FREAKIN' MILES LEFT.  Shut up, self.
• Ok, I'm tired.  Time for a hill?  Sure, why not.
• I can't believe the sun is almost setting as I'm getting done with this run.  
• Finish strong.  Man it'd be nice to have some data to back up that strong finish.
• Done.  Stop to pause garmin.  Lolz, it's been dead for 9 miles, remember?

Was this boring?  Now you know how I feel.  I need some running partners stat.  Or I just need to get speedier stat so I can run with my old running partners.

So the compression sock thing did NOT work out.  Wow.  My knee was super swollen when I took the compression sock off, because I'm guessing the fluid had to settle there since it couldn't go down due to my compression socks.  I can't wait to finally be done with the knee strap, because I'll totally give this another go.  Does anyone have success with knee strap + compression socks?  any tips??

And I totally got my margherita pizza and beer post-run.  Mmmm.... totally worth that extra ten pounds.

Philly Training + Running Buddy

Since I’m planning to run Philly with these two fine ladies, I’m making it a point to try to run with people.  News flash:  I really like running alone.  Running with people is hard for me.  Even in high school track when there were girls that were similar speed as me, I just preferred to chase the boys (real shocker there) than run with the girls.  It’s hard.  I’m always concerned that I’m slowing them down.  Or I’m concerned that I’m not getting the most out of a long run if it’s not the exact pace I want to be/feel like I should be running.  Unless you’re running with your exact pace twin, it just ends up being too much stress.

Well last weekend, I had a date for my 16 miler, but because of our alma mater’s homecoming festivities, and my need to sleep in, plans didn’t work out.  Which brought me to this past weekend.  I had 18 on the schedule, and had emailed Karla to see if she wanted to join me for part of it.  Karla and I have pretty similar race times, and she just destroyed her first full in the Twin Cities a few weeks ago.  She usually runs her long runs a smidge faster than me, but since she’s not actually training for anything, I hoped she’d be ok running a little pokier.  J  Of course I was surprised when she said she’d be up for the whole shebang!  I was doubly thrilled when she was on board for a late morning start!  Dear Fall, Your cool temps are amazing.  Don’t ever leave me.

When we started off, it was 37 degrees, and I knew I looked like a fool in a tank and shorts, but I also knew I’d warm up quickly.  Karla’s daughter recently joined the Dailymile and wanted to log some miles, so she joined us on her bike.  Around mile 4, her daughter got picked up by her hubby and we continued to just run and chat and chat and run.  We navigated through some construction to get down to the Falls, and the miles were just flying by.  Turns out, the nice part about a running buddy, is your brain has other stimulation outside of looking at your pace/time/distance/heart rate.  Who would’ve thought!?!?!  The first time I feel like I really looked at my watch was 13.33 miles.  That’s not a bad distance to zone out for!

Normally when I run with somebody, I run a lot slower, because talking throws off my breathing rhythm, and I pretty much feel like I’m going to die.  But not Saturday.  I’m not sure who the one pushing the pace was, but we were comfortably in the 9:15-9:25 range for most of the run.

Around mile 14 we both started feeling a little tired.  Luckily for me I had a GU to take at mile 12, and it kicked in around mile 15.  Not so luckily for Karla, she left her GU with her daughter’s bike.  She also started to have some tummy problems.  Poor thing.  At mile 16, we parted ways, and I took off like a cannon.  I have never had a second wind like that in a long run, and I owe it all to the GU Roctane.  Blueberry Pomegranite, my fave.  Mmmmm.

Since I was feeling strong, I decided to do a “faster finish” long run.  It felt great to run that strong after having 16 miles on your legs.  8:58 and 8:41.  Whoo!

Sadly, due to our weaving through the construction areas to get to Falls Park, I must’ve over estimated how much distance we had left, because I finished my run a half mile from home.  I like to cool down, and all, but I was out of water and thirsty.  And I swear to you, a G.D. horsefly followed me the entire ½  mile home, landing on me and annoying the poo out of me.

I did 18 miles in 2:48:33 for a pace of 9:21.  Other than our mile walk/running through construction areas (9:56) and our slowed down pace to fight Karla’s tummy issue (9:32) we were cruisin’!

After logging my 3 mile recovery run on Sunday (which sucked, hard), I was so thrilled to see that I was on the top of my dailymile board!  I know a lot of my friends a lot more miles than me, but I think the ones doing monster training are running NYC and have started their taper, so I win by default.  And I'll take it.  To be honest, 40+ mile weeks are a big deal for me, because my body always seems to start breaking down at the 40 mile point.  So three cheers to 45 and no issues (**knocks on wood**).

And just for fun, I was trying out a new filter for a camera app I downloaded and managed to get this gem of a photo after it's 27 rapid fire flashes.  I kind of love how terribly great it is.



The Great Race + 18 Mile Long Run

Friday I had an easy 8 on the schedule, but decided to drop it down to 5 since I knew my legs had been workkked thoroughly during the week.  It was a nice and easy run until some chick decided to "race" me on the bike trail.  It was so weird/random.  She flew past me on the bike trail, huffing and puffing and then stayed half a step in front of me.  When I'd try to pass her (because I was sick of trying to avoid running on her heels) she'd speed up too.  After about the third time of this, I finally passed her for good.  So maybe I accidentally got a couple of miles in at MP.  No biggie.  The good news is, when I got a block away from my house I realized that I had blocked out 4 of the 5 miles I  had just run.  The only parts I remember are "the race."
Saturday I had the dreaded 18 miler on tap.  I hate 18 miles.  And it hates me (if a random long run number could attribute feelings towards a human, that is).  My stomach was super duper upset all morning, so I didn't head out til early afternoon.  Which was fine because it was gorrrrrrgeous out.

Within the first few miles of the run, I was in a residential area, and there were a couple of 8 year old (approx.) boys on their bikes trailing me.  One of them shouts out, "Hi! You look like you've been running all morning!"  I feel like I should be offended as I'm only on mile 3, but I give the kid the benefit of the doubt.  Plus he's wearing a Packers hoodie, so clearly he's gotta be a cool kid.  I tell him that I still have 15 miles left to do.  To which he replies, "Wow!  15 miles! That's alot! Are you hungry?  Want me to get you some food?"  At this point I'm ready to ask for his business card and to speak to his parents to get their permission for me to "rent" this kid Saturday mornings to be my personal biking/food sherpa for my long runs.  Sigh.  Maybe our paths will cross again, and he'll be prepared with my favorite foods.  I'll for sure look him up if I ever get interested in ultras. ;)

The rest of the run was pretty great except for the final few miles.  I ran out of water, and was pretty wiped out.  Plus I had to reroute my...well...route... for the 3rd time.  No bueno.  Running by your apartment 17 times while on a run is suckkkkkkkkkkkkky.

I did 18 miles in 2:54 ish (I'm too lazy to look) for a pace of 9:47.
Check out Eat, Drink, Run's butt-chaffage-no-more giveaway.

18 Miles.... You Win Again.

For both rounds of marathon training I have struggled with my 18 milers.  20 miles?  Great.  22 miles?  Awesome.  18 miles?  100% shit show.  When I woke up Saturday morning, I had wanted to wait until the wind chill was in the double digits.  Finally at 2pm, I said screw it and headed out in the balmy 9 degree temps.  Luckily for me, there was a sheet of ice covering my entire running path.  Yay!

After mile 1, I resigned to the fact that this would be a slow run, and opted to not pay attention to my garmin for much of the run.  I was wearing my yaktrax, which helped with my footing, but still gave the impression of two steps forward, and one step back while running.  Gah.  Through the first GU break (4.5 miles) I was having a jolly good time.  I had planned to run a nine mile out and back to get my mileage for the day.  Unfortunately at 7.5 miles I realized that the rest of the trail was under construction, so I'd have to tack miles on to the end of the run.

Since I'm 100% loco runner, this messed with my brain big time.  When you run the same trail over and over and over and over again, you get used to knowing exactly how far you are from being done.  Having to add 3 miles to this automatic total suckkkkkked.  At mile 9 I went to take GU #2 only to realize that some dumb dumb hadn't zipper her coat pocket and had lost her favorite blueberry pomegranite roctane.  I continued to pout and scour the trail for it's shiny blue wrapper.

I was approximately 100 yards from my initial GU point when I saw something shiny out of the corner of my eye.  Praise Jesus alleluiah!  I am saved!!  Seriously... I don't know if I've ever been this happy on a run.  I kept on with my run going an alternate route to tack on the remaining 3 miles, only to realize the trail was closed THAT WAY TOO.  alskfjalsjdflajslkfjlkajsdlfkjlkasdjflasdflakjdsflkajsdf

Fine.  I'll do a mile lap around my apartment.  Whatever.  Just get this run d-o-n-e!  I ditched my yaktrax on the apartment lawn (ie:  snow mountain) and continued around the block.  Foreshadowing:  big mistake.  At approximately 17.3 miles, I ran by a pet shop with some huge dog bellowing out a barking rant.  When I moved to get off of the sheet of ice that sprung up on me and on to a mound of snow, I completely lost my footing and flew through the air landing really hard on my elbow and right hip.  Immediately upon hitting the ground I stopped my garmin (tell me that isn't a reflexive action....) and cursed at the dog to shut the eff up.  Oops.

I hobbled the remaining .7 miles home, pouting.  When I got home I felt sicky sick.  Oftentimes after a long run I feel really pukey and this time was bad.  I curled up in the fetal position on the couch in my still sweaty and stinky clothes and called KK.  And of course he didn't answer so I pouted 100x harder.  Moments away from crying he called me back and said he had a gift for me.   Well technically 2 gifts.  Well actually thousands of gifts...... and I perked right up.  Someone had replenished my starburst jelly bean stash!!!!!!!!!!  :) :) :)  Eventually the promise of candy was enough for me to pry myself off the couch and in to the shower.

Oh and for the record, I can run at least 21 miles in the time it took me to run 18.  If it's not spring by the time my 20 miler rolls around, I'm going to kill winter.  Seriously.  I hope they let me blog from prison.

And in lighter news, check out my haul from the library this weekend.  Yes I am a homebody, why do you ask?  ;)  Quick poll:  How many of these will get read/watched before their impending deadline?  Answer to come.

Long Run...Dominated

Friday night I went to bed at the early hour of 9:30pm since I was exhausted and knew I'd be up early to get in nay dominate my 18 mile long run.  I slept like a champ (as I'm still fighting off someother or another) and was up and at em at 6:45am.  After eating my breakfast and checking the weather report, I decided to crawl back in to bed.  20mph winds and getting worse as the morning/afternoon goes on?  Uh no thanks.  I got some rando-sickness to kick.  Roughly 13 1/2 hours after calling it a night, I finally crawled out of bed.  Refreshed (I would hope).

To pass the day away, I knocked out a couple of scarf orders and did some major damage on my almost full DVR.  Before I knew it the winds were dying down (only 18 mph!), and it was about time for me to do some 18 mile domination!

When I first started the run, it was hard.  I was half a mile in and was already counting down to being done.  That, is sooooooooo not awesome for a long run.  17.5 miles left!  Keep being positive/kill me now, and do it gently please.  Somewhere around the 2-3 mark I got in to a groove and my sorta mad stomach took a chill pill.  It was going so well that I didn't want to pause to take my GU at 4.5 miles.  But I did, and did so uber fast.  (I hate taking GUs while running unless I have to, say, in a race.  I usually try to take them super fast when I have to refill a water bottle or something).  As soon as I started up again my stomach was mad.  Again it took about a mile for it to feel normal again.

The great news is that I was going at a fairly quick clip for my long run, and it didn't feel taxing at all.  To be honest, I 100% expected to crash and burn as is my modus operandi for the 18 miler.  "The curse of 18."  The run was slightly boring because no one was out on the bike trails.  I tried really hard to find the cute boy with the purse puppy but he was nowhere to be found. :(  I turned around at 7.5 miles because the trail was under construction.  It actually worked out pretty well because I knew I'd have to do at least a few miles after dark and knew that Aaron would yell at me if I was doing them on the trail.  :)

I took another GU at mile 9 and filled up my water bottle.  Again my stomach was gross feeling for about a mile after stopping, but the second half of miles on the trail flew by.  Once it started to get dark I took to the sidewalks for the remaining 3 miles.  Of course one of these miles has a hill.  Nothing major, but basically a mountain to me.  This was my only split that was over 9:23 pace, so win as far as I'm concerned.  The entire long run was phenomenal, except the last mile was a bit of a struggle to maintain a low 9 minute pace.  If I had been running farther than 18 I would've sucked back another GU to combat it.
1. 9:18

2. 9:11
3. 9:23
4. 9:18
5. 9:21
6. 9:26
7. 9:12
8. 8:58
9. 9:03
10. 9:08
11. 9:05
12. 9:15
13. 9:15
14. 9:06
15. 9:31 (hill)
16. 9:06
17. 8:59
18. 9:09
I did 18 miles in 2:45:44 for a pace of 9:12.  My previous attempts had been 2:48 and 2:53.  Yippee skippy!  I'd say this constitutes as an 18 mile LR domination. :p
Sub-4 you're miiiiiiiiiiiiine! :)

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Is redemption supposed to feel this....painful?

Thanks for all of your awesome responses to my grad school excitement.  If anyone happens to know anyone through a friend of a friend's pal's uncle's estranged best friend that completed a Masters in Library Science online, hook a sista up!  I have a thousand questions. :)  And I also think it's funny that most people had mucho love for University of Washington because that's my #1 choice (thus far) as well.  Whoot whoot!  Plus it also happens to be one of the schools my BFFF Megan is looking to go to (but actually be there, not online).  All the more reason to visit, yes? :)

Thursday I had an easy 7 miler to take on.  With insanely sore shoulders from yoga, I headed out at a very slow and relaxed pace.  Each time G-man beeped at me it was muuuuch faster than I thought I was going, so I pushed the pace to an even slower pace.  Nada, didn't work. Ran consistently faster than I should've and felt great about it.  Whatevs, right? :)  I did 7 in 1:04:47 for a pace of 9:16.

Friday night I got in some ab work while waiting for the loverboy to arrive.  We dined and watched Up in the Air, which I looooooooooved.  Oh man.  I thought it was really good.  Also, loverboy is still ridiculously cute in case you were curious.  I gave him the coolest/weirdest/sweetest gift ever, which I may have to blog about at a future date....perhaps tomorrow.  Please remind me. :)

Saturday I was ready for redemption in the form of an 18 miler.  As you may remember from my previous 18 miler (let's be honest, you don't remember.  Why would you unless you're a) me or b) a stalker?  Since you are not a) me, and I hope to God you're not b) a stalker, than you wouldn't remember so click on the previous linky link to refresh your bwains [part of TEAM GREEN has difficulty saying his R's and refers to the brain as a bwain which just cracks me up] speaking of crack, hey-o Jerbear...you've derailed).

Anyway, nuts and bolts of the redemption, I have had one LR thus far in MARATHON TRAINING that has been less than stellar and it's been the 18-er.  I had blood on my mind and Gu in my pockets as I headed out for 18 miler: Take 2.  It was in the mid-upper 50s when I started out, and I was sporting the sexay watermelon runner version of Jerbear.  Something about that pink top makes me so stinkin' happy prancing around out there. 

The first few miles really flew by.  There were a ton of people out biking/walking/running and my legs felt awesome.  I did see a dude rollerblading in full length spandex tights.  Note to dude: if you must wear tights because you're cold (??) feel free to wear shorts or something over the tights, that's *sorta* distracting to see your junk on display, especially b/c you're at least 9 feet tall and it's right at eye level for shrimpy Jerbear.

1. 9:16

2. 9:28
3. 9:17
4. 9:26

I took my first Gu at about 4 1/2 miles and realized that my handheld (12 oz.) was almost half gone.  Uh.  Sweet portion control.  Luckily for me, I remembered that there was a cafe at the turn around point that I could duck into and refill.  Yay for hydration!  At this point I was chasing down some lady, which took my mind off of running.  Unfortunately she turned around before I could catch her, poop nuggets, but thanks for the entertainment lady!  My miles were still ticking off much quicker than I had intended, but without a whole lot of extra energy from me.  Yippee.
5. 9:27

6. 9:14
7. 9:19
8. 9:16
9. 9:34

I grabbed some water just shy of the 9 mile marker along with another Gu and hightailed it up a hill...that sucked.  Hence the time.  Stupid hill.  At the halfway point my time was 1:24:30.  I always like to note this to attempt to negative split that puppy.  Apparently during this next section my brain (or bwain) went out the window as I started seeing super happy families and little kiddos out having fun with their parents.  Didn't realize I had a biological clock, but at that moment I wanted, neigh, needed a hubby, 2.5 kids, and a golden retriever with a white picket fence.  Holy cow.  Luckily this mental lapse in judgment has since passed (for the most part).
10. 9:22

11. 9:20
12. 9:17
13. 9:19
14. 9:19

When I took my last Gu at 13.5 miles I realized, uh oh! I was out of water....and I still had 4 1/2 miles to go.  [Insert oh @#$(@$% here please.]  Also, this is the majority of the run that isn't done under tree coverage so I was just out there under the hot sun.  (Wasn't she just complaining about freezing weather and snow?  Yes..yes she was.)  The salt build up on my face was horrendous.  I just kept counting down the miles to being done.  I was also keeping myself busy by figuring out some potential goal times/finishing times for the MARATHON based on the 9:20ish pace my body seems to be comfortable with lately.  Math helps the miles fly by.  Also, since I took a slightly different route home (only the last 2 miles adding on an extra mile due to construction) my normal mental mile markers were all off.  Where I KNOW I should have 3 miles left aka kick time, I actually had 4 miles left.  Honestly, that was brutal and messed with my confidence a bit.  Grrr.
15. 9:30

16. 9:25


With 2 miles to go, I was stopped at a busy intersection waiting for a walk signal.  Um....stopping with 2 miles to go = worst idea EVER.  I was so thirsty and just wanted to be done.  I started up again and had to take a mini break with about a mile left to go.  I was borderline seeing stars... not fun.  Instead of my usual BTTW 5k finish, instead I was content with surviving it.

17. 9:21
18. 9:15

I finished the 18 miles in 2:48:33 for a pace of 9:22 (last 9 were 27 seconds quicker than the first 9, A+ for consistency).  Compared to the last 18 miler, I was about 5 minutes faster.  And other than the last 2 miles, I felt greeeeeeeeeeat.  As long as the marathon course doesn't run out of water, I should be ok, right? (Omg, don't even joke about that Jeri!)

I finished the week with my first 40 mile week, with 41 on the board.  Whoo whoo!  With only 4 running days/week, I'm pretty darn proud of myself.

Let's play a game called "Can you tell where I wear my running watch?"  The fact it is noticable at the beginning of April does not bode well for the actual summer months.

Also, who needs compression socks?  My VS mukluks do just the trick.  Just kidding, they don't at all.  But post ice bath and shower my feet were STILL freezing, so I had to go with it.  Also, please notice I'm wearing different tempo shorts post-run.  You mean you don't change out of one pair of running shorts to be replaced by a different colored pair of the same ones?  You are a fool. :P  (Also, super awkward angle taken to accentuate the above knee fat.  Oh wells.... :D)

Another New Personal Distance: 18 Miles

As previously toyed with, I ended up doing my 18 mile long run Friday afternoon.  After putting in a looooooooong day Thursday, I was more than ready to get out of work at noon on Friday.  Thursday night, I had every intention of waking up early Friday morning to eat cereal and toast for breakfast and to make a green smoothie to make sure I was properly fueled for my long run.

When I hopped out of bed, I was shocked to see that my blender was still filthy.  Uh...looks like someone forgot to turn the dishwasher ON.  Ooops.  No time to scrub that caked on crap.  Quick!  Cereal.  Forget to grab toast.  Excellent.  Protein bar, that'll hold me over.  [This my friends is why I plan things ahead, because my brain is mush in the morning.]  Cereal + protein bar is enough fuel to hold me over til lunch time.  NOT enough to hold me over for an 18 miler in lieu of lunch time.  Dodo brain.  On top of it all, I was fighting a two day headache.  Poop nuggets.  In fabulous/awesomeness/ohmygoshness news, the weather was glorious.  We're talking 30 degrees with wind gusts up to 21 mph.  Ok, I hate wind, but at least it wasn't Frigid McFrigidPants.

When I was getting ready to head out, I had to laugh when I grabbed my sunglasses.  Nothing says "legit runner" like fake D&G oversized sunglasses.  I've been rockin' these puppies for my last 3-4 long runs, and look like a complete fool, I'm sure.  You try running for 2 1/2-3 hours staring into snow banks reflecting the snow rays!  This chica does not want any extra premature wrinkles, k?

I started the run with the intention of running 9:40-9:50 mm.  Per Glenn's suggestion, I shouldn't be doing these LRs faster than +:30 from my goal pace.  Um...hi.  This pace HURTS.  I don't know what my deal is, but this is a horrifically uncomfortable pace for me.  Somewhere in my brain relaxed easy pace = form goes to hell.  I took my first GU at 4.5 miles and was so stinkin' excited for it.  Tummy so hungry.

1. 9:25

2. 9:37
3. 9:59
4. 9:49
5. 9:43

I kept plodding along during the 2nd quadrant of my run (yes I like to break up my run into quadrants, I also like to factor fractions and percentages while I run.  I'm the epitome of a number's nerd, danke!)  Highlights of this quadrant was an intense skunky smell.  I started looking every where to make sure that it was just the smell and not the offender, when a black squirrel darted in front of me!  I've never seen a black squirrel before, it was crazy.  [Sidenote:  When asking Mr. Nature aka Nick about it, turns out I'm not crazy, black squirrels are very uncommon in our area.  Made me feel better to not be 100% loco.  Perhaps just 80%.]

It was also during this point that I ran farther on the trail than I ever have before, and let me tell you, I will not be again.  I ran in a very not-so-super-safe area.  Eek.  I accidentally ran just below the bluff that the State Penitentary sits on.  :s  As in, if I'm a prisoner and I make a break for it, I'd be heading for the trail that Jerbear is cruising along on.  I will tell you that I have never been as alert of a runner as I was during that 1-2 mile total.  iPod off, head swiveling, high tailing it (ha! ok, that part didn't happen, I was tired.)  I had to chuckle when I saw a sign with a bike going up a steep incline.  Now you're just toying with me and my hatred for inclines/hills. :p  Awesome.

6. 9:46
7. 9:36
8. 9:57

9. 9:57

At the turn around, I pretty much just wanted to be home.  9 = 18, right?  Told you I was a math nerd.  Instead, I trudged along.  Going back over hills that I had previously cursed.  [Yes Jeri, it is a good idea to plan 4 miles of hills in the middle of your 18 miler.  Genius lovebug.]  It was during this time that I realized I still had two GUs left and only one planned GU break (one every 4.5 miles for 18 miles does NOT = 4, again excellent math skills, good thing I'm practicing!).  To my delight, this meant I could take MORE during the remaining 9 miles to hopefully combat my shitty fueling.  Math fail = win!

Highlights of this one sixth (3 miles) of my run:  seeing a dude running along in shorts.  Now I realize it's above freezing (by 2 *whole* degrees) but really??  Now you're just showing off your super human insulated skin.  Fool.  It was also during this portion that I was running into those lovely up to 21 mph wind gusts.

10. 10:03

11. 9:48
12. 9:43

When I started the remaining third of the run, I pumped myself up:  less then an hour of running to go!  You know you're a runner when you can get pumped about that on a LR, eh?  I also was getting myself pumped up because all day I had it in my brain that I had to work for 4 hours + run for 3 hours + shower/get ready/pack + drive one hour to see the boy.  Hustle lady! 

At this point the extra GUs really did help.  Once I rounded the corner at mile 13, the wind was somewhat at my back and I said a big F you to the slow LR pace.  I let my legs do their thing, and it felt goooood.

13. 9:36

14. 9:27
15. 9:28

I had a pleasant run in with my alma mater's cross country team with about 2.5 miles to go.  Coming up on a highly muddy/puddly area I see mud and yuck a-flyin' into the air as the boys were whizzing by me in the opposite direction.  Most girls would probably be excited by this, but unfortunately I'm not very attracted to runner boys.  Gasp.  I know.  Sorry runner boys out there, but give me a boy who played college football, or looks like he played college football, and I'm pretty much guarenteed to be gaga and googly eyed.  I love me a big muscular teddy bear, what can I say?

With a couple of miles left I hadtogotothebathroomrightnow hence the faster than necessary paces.  GUs make you go...  Who Knew?  They probably shouldn't steal that for their marketing campaign any time soon.

16. 9:33

17. 8:59
18. 8:40
 
I finished the 18 miles in 2:53:15 for a pace of 9:38.
 

Needless to say my shoes don't look nearly as *new* as they did a few weeks ago, prior to seeing anything but the treadmill.  My socks:  Also not so pretty.  Immediately after the run, the only thing I noticed hurting was my lower back.  It was tiiiiiiight.

Major downfall of the excessive puddles and mud:  running almost 3 hours in wet socks = mad blisters.  Oy.  We're talking water blisters, still the sole (thankfully) blood blister, and air blisters.  Yeouch.  When I finally got to Minnesota later that evening, I requested that Nick carry me everywhere because my feet hurt so bad.  He declined.  Rude.

Things I learned (or in some cases relearned) from 18:

1. Fuel you dumb @$$.  Fuel and then fuel some more.  Just to be safe, fuel on top of that.
2. It is necessary to have more time elapse between a hard tempo run and a long run.  36 hours does not cut it.  2 1/2 days at least.
3. For runs over 16 miles, I should probably have more water than my 12 oz. handheld. Must stash water bottles in the future.
4. Focus on form with a slower pace.  Your knees will hate you otherwise.

Speaking of complaining, I pretty much spent the whole weekend complaining to Nick about random aches and pains, because I'm a *bit* of a complainer.  At one point I said:

J: maybe I'll just become a marathoner and call it good.  One is probably good enough, right?

N:  Or you could just do them once every 6 months, that wouldn't be so bad, right?

J:  Or I could do 3 in 3 consecutive months to be a Maniac!  Or I could do 2 in one weekend!

N:  What?!?!?!?  People actually DO that?!?!?!?!?

Heh heh.  It's kind of nice to see a perspective that is removed from the crazy runner world every once in a while. 

I *may* have seen Alice in Wonderland this weekend, hence the many references.  More on that to come.