Today I ran the Queen Ka'ahumanu Triathlon Club's 30k race (thank you organizers and volunteers!), and am so excited to report that I finished in the Top 15 runners for my distance!!! (Out of 16 participants). :-) Technically, I finished 12th. But saying "Top 15" sounds a lot better than "fourth from the last."
I think because I had fairly decent 18 & 20-mile runs (not speedy of course, but not excruciating either), I assumed that this morning's 22-miler would go the same way...whoops. It took me 3:28 to run 18.6 miles.
Good Lord.
I had thought with the aid stations and added pressure of running with others that I would run about 10-minute mile(s) and finish in roughly 3 hours. But somehow, I ran 11:20-minute miles. Yikes. To be fair, I did take two potty breaks, but they were probably only a minute each (since the county seems to think toilet paper is optional and saved me the additional wiping time). ;-) Sorry if that's too much information, heh heh.
While I never really hit my stride or felt great out there today (it was kinda warm and humid), I was still surprised by my performance and a little upset. But I desperately wanted to end the run on a positive note, so even though all I wanted to do after the race was go home- I forced myself to hit the running path so I could run/walk the additional 3.5 miles I needed to complete 22-miles. I was in such pain that I was barely able to mince along (but was gratefully aided by the quick beat of the 8-9 loud Tahitian drummers pounding away for some Tahitian hula dancers nearby). Every time I slowly looped around them on the path I kept expecting to see heavily tattooed Tahitian warriors holding spears swoop down from the trees...it was so beautifully awesome and surreal (childhood flashbacks of my own brief Tahitian hula lessons) definitely helped get me through the run.
At the moment, I'm laying in bed with Ryan fast asleep next to me. I finished running three full hours ago and my poor, horrifically tanned legs (thank you, compression socks!) are still aching, tender and sore... Today's run definitely took a lot out of me, and the thought of running, or even walking NINE more miles uphill after that (since the ultra is 31) sounded worse than being water boarded. So I still have quite a ways to go folks...quite a ways to go. The thing that these really long runs do to me that I always forget until I do one, is that they so deeply exhaust me that all I can think about is how I don't want to do them anymore...but I know that I have to and want to, because they make me so much physically and psychologically stronger. They strip away all the b.s.and force me to forget everything in the world other than just crawling and limping my way to the finish.
So today's run was a GREAT reminder for me to not set a time goal for the ultra. Because at the end of that run, I will be fighting to just stay upright and make it to the finish line. I have even given myself permission (try not to laugh because I'm being dead serious here) to collapse at the finish line...which I always feel like doing after a marathon, but pride prevents me from doing so. :-) I know I'll be totally embarrassed if I do, but I doubt I'll care because it will feel sooooo damned good.
Onward and upward (even if I'm limping),
Jolene
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