20 MILES! Seattle, here I come!

The 20 miler was today!!  It has been absolutely the most mentally/physically taxing day of my life - and an amazing one, too!

I ran with my mentor, Peter, and another girl on our team, Lindsey, who usually run together.  They follow the Galloway Method, which is a run-walk strategy to avoid injury and to make running marathons less stressful on your body.  We run for 8 minutes and walk for 2.  Those 2 minutes are supposed to re-energize you so that during the 8 minutes you can run faster than you would be if you just ran it straight.  Considering that before today the longest I had run was 11ish miles (I was sick when they did the last big run), I thought this was a smart choice.

After about 3.5 miles we had to run up one of the steepest hills I've ever seen.  And it was at least 1/4 mile long!  I'm just glad that was at the beginning and not the end!

The run-walk was working really well for me.  At first I felt like I should keep running because I had so much energy, but I think it really saved me in the end.

At about mile 13 (half-marathon!!) I reached my first wall.  My whole body hurt, my leg muscles felt fatigued, and it was all I could do to just keep up with Peter and Lindsey.  I was absolutely miserable, but I kept at it.

At mile 15 I not only reached the wall, but ran right into it.  The SAG stops had been 4 miles apart, and by the time I got there I was light headed, dizzy, and all of my muscles felt tight and unhappy.  I couldn't sit still but I couldn't keep going.  My coach took my pulse, gave me gatorade, and ran/walked with me for the next 1/2 mile or so, when the gatorade kicked in and my head was clear again.  From then on out I was alone in my run.  My hips were hurting just from being on my feet for so long and my leg muscles weren't helping me out - I should've lifted weights earlier in the season!

Me.  Hitting the wall.  

Then I discovered something life-saving.  I started counting my steps.  It was originally a way to keep track of how long I should run and how long I should walk (I don't have a watch, still... oops!), but it ended up being something I could focus on.  The steps just kept on coming, even up hills that I thought I wouldn't be able to make.  It was insane how my feet just kept going even though I thought, "maybe I'll just take a little break..."

The last mile was uphill and my FABULOUS coaches Neal and Erin met me and ran the last leg with me, cheering me on.  At the end my team was stretching out and drinking water - and they were all so supportive!  They told me that they thought I was going to quit at some point and were so impressed that I toughed it out.  One of them, who has done 4 marathons, wrote on my facebook: "I've seen some gutsy performances turned in over the years.  Your 20 miles today will stick in my mind for a long time as one of the great efforts.  Nice job."

So I cried when I finished, I cried when telling my mom about it, but I'm so proud of myself!

The "tunnel of love" finish line!

And since apparently in those 5 hours I burned about 3,000 calories... I've got some eating to do!