Week 17

Twenty-seven miles is far. Really, really, really far…maybe not so bad in a car or on a bike but running it is…well, far.

I survived without too much drama. No flying dogs or anything too crazy…just running for a few hours; but it did give me time to think. One of the things I thought about was the question that people normally ask me when they find out I want to run the Goofy Challenge again: why?

Simple question, though the answer is a bit more difficult. When I returned from Iraq on my 2007 WIT deployment, I wanted to run a marathon…mainly because I was alive. So not too long after my return, I signed up for a half marathon and thought I’d give it a try. The training was not good—I was guessing how to do it and hoped for the best. I tried to learn how to eat while running (which made me yak…thankfully my body got used to it fairly quickly) and basically hoped for the best. So when I ran the half, I got to mile 13 and thought, “This. Is. Insane. These people are insane and the ones running the full marathon need to get their heads examined,” and I thought I was done with it.

Fast forward six months. I’m in Florida and I signed up for a running club—mostly to watch my weight and to make certain I would do okay with PT test. And after talking to the people who got the club together, I decided to run another one. But this time, not a half marathon…nope, I signed up for the full one. In four months. For some people that may have worked…the couple in charge of the run club had philosophy: “if you can run 18 miles, you can run 26.” But I’m here to tell you—for my body to run 26 miles, 18 miles was not NEARLY far enough for training. I crashed out around mile 20, limped along to mile around 22 and I had to walk about the last four miles of that run—it took forever.

But I did notice that I was feeling better. I’m a very high-strung/tense person and I had some serious issues after my year in Iraq (which lends to the EOD theme I have for running…I was deployed with them; but the kind of job I normally do did not prepare for what I saw and did). But it was therapy for me. Just to keep moving, to feel so challenged and alive…as much as I still (!) don’t like the actual physical act of running, I love the challenge, I love proving that yes, I can go that far. I love saying things like, “yeah, I did 27 miles this weekend” and seeing the expression on people’s faces as they do the math.

And now I can’t seem to stop! I get chaffing in the worst places (sports bras are not kind to sensitive skin when you sweat in them for hours), dehydration headaches, leg cramps, exhaustion, sunburns, it’s extremely time consuming…and yet I know I’ll probably sign up for the challenge yet again in 2013, provided my job allows my schedule to let that happen.

So here are the stats for the runs:

Saturday:
Distance: 13.5 miles
Total time: 3:10:07
Average pace: 14:05
Best pace: 8:58
Weather: 67*, 80% humidity (feels like 67*)
Song o’ the run: “Alejandro” (Lady Gaga)


Monday:
Distance: 10 miles
Total time: 2:15:18
Average pace: 13:32
Best pace: 9:17
Weather: 67*, 85% humidity (feels like 67*)
Song o’ the run: “Bathwater” (No Doubt)

Quick break (about 10 minutes) and then finished the last 3.5
Distance: 3.5 miles
Total time: 46:40 (3:01:58 complete time)
Average pace: 13:20
Best pace: 10:04
Weather: 66*, 82% humidity (feels like 66*)
Song o’ the run: “Keep Your Hands To Yourself” (Georgia Satellites)

I’m up to $550!!! Please donate, if you can! =^)

P.S. For you, Gibby--I miss you.