WATCH OUT BOSTON, HERE COMES MEGAN!

I did it! I ran my 20 miler! I ran for 20 minutes and walked for 5 minutes... I did that about 8 times until I got to 20 miles! This was all done alone, on a rail trail. The weather was perfect- about 45 degrees and dreary. It was supposed to rain, but mother nature decided to hold off until five minutes after my run was over. What are the odds!?


My dinner the night before this epic event...

Cobb salad and pasta salad. Yumm-o!

I am so not a food photographer. I propped these babies up on the back of the couch haha!

Dessert!!!

So my morning started at 3:00 am. I woke up and I could not fall back asleep. I tossed and turned until 4:00, then got up. The plan was to start my run at eight with some friends from my running club but since I was up, but I decided to get an early start. I pulled into the trail head a little before 7:00 am to get a head start on my miles.

Conewago Rail Trail

Miles 1-6 = I did an out and back so I could meet my friends by 8:00 am. As these first few miles ticked away and I didn't feel any weakness in my knee, I started to get cautiously excited. Maybe today would go well. One of the reasons I think my knee did not feel weak at all for the entire run is because I wore my knee brace. This was a smart move. I had not worn it since before my surgery.

I met my friends at the trail head. They would not be running my weird run/walk interval I had going, so I would be on my own for the next 14 miles. Luckily I prepared and had my mp3 player loaded up with Survivor pod casts and The Book of Mormon Soundtrack (which would come in handy the last mile!).

My car had been the only one in the lot when I pulled in, but by now it was packed. There was a large group of runners congregating. They looked hardcore- you know, fancy clothes and lots of gear. They looked like they were going long that day as well. One of the guys came over and introduced himself. "Yeah, a lot of these gals are doing their 20 miler today since they're running Boston," he said nonchalantly. UGH that was torture! I was thinking, "Geez, if this 20 miler doesn't work out for me and I can't run Boston, I'm going to be passed on the trail by other girls who WERE going to run Boston." Talk about adding insult to injury.

Miles 7-12 = I ran six miles out on the trail. I just stuck with the run/walk plan and listened to pod casts the whole time. My running miles were in the high 8s and my walking miles were in the 14s. I passed a lot of runners, cyclists, and dogs along the way. It hadn't begun to rain yet so I was nice and warm in my long sleeve and vest. When I got to 12 miles, I turned around to head back to my car. I didn't want to be too far away, but I already had a good feeling. With only 8 miles to go and my knee still feeling normal (thank you brace!), I knew I was going to GET. THIS. DONE.

Miles 13-15 = Still feeling good! I sent this text to Paul:

Miles 16-18 = My body started to feel a little "long run creaky" at this point. You know... pain in your joints and your feet. Just all that normal long run stuff. Still, I was confident and sent out this text message during one of my walk breaks:

Miles 19-20 = I had considered just stopping at 18. I knew I could complete two more miles because I hadn't hit THE WALL yet, but wondered if I should just play it conservative and not push myself to the brink of... whatever. But mentally I had to get 20 done, so I did one more out and back. This ended up being and entire running interval. I was going to allow myself to walk if I needed to, but I didn't need to. I just popped on The Book of Mormon and let the happy tunes guide me on my last few miles.

I was sooooo happy! Yes, there were tears!

Well, now you all will not have to hear me pine away about whether or not to run Boston. As long as I can walk tomorrow, I'm going to do it. (So if you're reading this post, it means I was able to walk to my computer to publish it.) I know my knee will be sore these next two days (it already is a little sore as I type this!), but as long as the soreness goes away, that is fine with me. Most people are sore after 20 miles!

Now, time to prop my feet up and REST for a few days!

Share a running triumph with me!

Have you ever done run/walk intervals?

Do you text and run?