All Downhill From Here

Up until yesterday none of my long runs have taken me past the halfway point in a marathon. Yesterday, I did it. I ran 25 km/15.5 miles. In a row! One after the other, yep.

It was gloriously warm out. When I awoke at 5:00 a.m. the radio guy said it was already 12C/54F, and I didn’t hit the river pathway to start running until after 7. I?had a full bottle of raspberry Ultima,?2 chocolate Powergels and a couple of homemade orange oatmeal cookies.?I had?applied?Body Glide, Vaseline, and?Ombrelle sun screen (spf 4o). I’d been to the bathroom 3 times and it was time to get out there.?I started out with a smile and total confidence that I was really going to enjoy this. As I ran along I greeted other runners with full fuel belts and gels tucked into the straps of their?drinking backpack systems. Heck, I greeted everybody who gave me eye contact.

Somewhere in the first 15 minutes I smiled at a man out walking his dog. He smiled back,?held a feather out to me and I took it. He told me “Maybe it will help you to run faster!” I carried that feather for the next hour, entwining it between my fingers and using it to remind me to run lightly. I remembered a mantra that *jeanne* uses, “Smooth, Strong, Glide” and it came in handy several times.

I counted 21 geese along the north side of the river before I got to the Eau Claire YMCA bathroom.

*Warning* Gross runner stuff coming up *Warning*

After almost 10 km I suffered a?vivid reminder of why I should be training with Imodium in my system this time of year. I don’t mind the warmth of the day so much in most ways, but it turns my innards to liquid. I was very glad I was running alone, because exactly one minute before I made it to the bathroom my body made a distressingly gurgly noise when it was supposed to be farting. Oh great.

And there, between me and the bathroom, was Gord of his own Running Store and his lovely wife and family. “Hi folks! Yep,?gorgeous day. 2 more hours to go!” I’m glad I’m not on a hugging basis with them – I really didn’t want to get close to anyone right then. It took me nine minutes to clean up half decently in the bathroom, and my “lucky long run underwear” just about became disposable. Lucky for the undies, I had a spare snack-size, sealable?baggie on hand. If I hadn’t potty trained two children earlier in my life I’d probably be selecting a new pair of undies to deem “lucky”.?Good for me, I’d also packed a panty liner and am very, very grateful for the liner in my running shorts.

We will now resume our cheery, poop-free report.

?*Done with the gross runner stuff now*

I was glad to be back on the pathway. Especially glad, because within 2 minutes of resuming my run I enjoyed the truly majestic view of a half-naked, totally ripped, tanned torso coming my way. Man, the scenery was breathtaking.

I did an extra little loop around Prince’s Island to extend my previous?21 km?out and back route?to 24 km. Then?I headed up the curling club hill and instead of going directly back down again, continued on to Center Street and down the bridge there. I enjoyed a gentler descent and added on the last extra km (to make the?whole thing total 25 km)?to the middle of my route at the same time. Now all I had to do was run back to my car, about 10 km away.

As I ran along the south side of the river I spotted none other than the Mayor running towards me. He touched a plaque near one of the statues at 14th Street and turned around to run the other way. Everybody has their little rituals, even the Mayor.

I counted 4 more geese before getting back to the north side of the river. There were all kinds of trees blooming along the way; purple and white lilacs, wolf willow, honeysuckle, fruit trees?totally covered in white and pink petals. I realized I’d left the feather back in the bathroom. Shoot. Oh well, run light anyway. I heard a train chugging on through and it reminded me to just keep that momentum going “like a freight train, baby”. I thought of Nancy doing her olympic?distance?triathlon race that morning and wondered how she fared.

I’d been running 10/1s?for?over 2.5 hours and still had about 5 km to make it back to the car. Things were starting to ache now, but I kept on putting one foot in front of the other. At one point I resorted to counting each of my steps as if it were the first. “One, one, one, one, one…”

There were lots more folks out on the pathway now – kids falling asleep in strollers, all sizes of dogs and their owners, etc. As if I hadn’t seen enough famous people for one morning, I waved hello to Gord Gillies, a local newsguy, running along with someone else not far from Edworthy Park.

I made it back to my car, stopped the watch, and flopped down in a shady, grassy spot. You know, “to stretch”.?For the first minute or two?I just looked up through leaves of a big poplar tree at the blue sky, and then I did actually manage a few stretches before heading home. A cool bath, a warm shower and a change of clothes later and I made 3 omelettes for lunch with my family. On the calendar I had guesstimated it might take me 3:20 to complete this distance. My watch reads 3:20:50. The legs were tired and achy the rest of the day, but the smile never left.?There’s nothing like running a new longest distance. I’m looking forward to my next one!

… and we’re only half way through it!

Last night I picked up Dawn and we went down to the Mother’s Day race expo to pick up our packets and do some shopping. Great Clips was there doing “free” haircuts for donations, and I snagged a nice little trim for $10. I picked up some free samples of various products, Little Runner had her caricature drawn, and we visited with Coach Dianne and others. Time flew by and we didn’t leave until 9 pm.

?I was up this morning at 6 a.m., made Hubby coffee and lunch for later (I only do this once in a while. He’s working the 6:30 am shift today). Drank some coffee, ate some toast, and waited for the digestive system to realize I was planning on running long today. I had hoped to get out the door around 7:30 so I could run for two hours before having to take Soccer Boy to practice, but didn’t get out until 8:30. Little Runner slept in until 8 (unheard of), but was deeply entranced by the t.v. when I left.

I ran 5k with two hills, one small and one medium. My hands were cold in the first mile and I think I might have seen my breath once or twice. After that I warmed up and the cold wind wasn’t so bad. The sunshine was deceiving. I wore shorts and a SL shirt, but the wind was chilly. After the first loop in 33ish minutes I popped in to make sure my kids hadn’t killed each other yet. Soccer Boy was on the computer, but now was going to get ready for soccer practice. Right now. Yup, now.

?I went back out and did?a second 5k loop on the same course in reverse. This one took a little longer, putting my total?time for the?10 km at 1:12. I stopped the watch and got Little Runner dressed so she wouldn’t have to come along in her jammies. Soccer Boy sprang into action and finished getting ready. As we were leaving the house for practice, who but one of SB’s coaches showed up. He’d come for the key to get the team’s soccer equipment (Hubby is the equipment guy for the league). Well heck, did he have room to take SB to practice, while he was at it? Yes.

?Huzzah!?(hey, I think I like that word)

I stuck LR back in front of the t.v. again, ate a Nutrigrain bar, answered an e-mail and headed back out the door one more time. This time I did a 6 km loop, stopping only for the occasional drink break and to take a few pictures of wildflowers. I felt pretty darn good in this last loop. I should take 20 minute breaks at the 10k point in my 16 km runs more often!

Towards the end I ran past a crescent in which friends of ours were participating in a multi-family garage sale. I jogged over to Frankie and said to her “Got anything really good? and LIGHT?” It took her a couple of seconds to realize that of course I wouldn’t be buying anything heavy while I was out running. As she laughed heartily I added “preferably with two wheels? and a motor?” More laughs as she pointed out her daughter’s old pink bicycle. “Sorry, no motor, but there’s that.” I snapped a pic of the bike and a pink bear on a chair for my friend the Pink Lady and carried on home.

?LR and I picked up SB from practice at 11:30?and headed home for lunch.?Tuna sandwich for him, leftover spaghetti pie for LR and me. I drank down two big glasses of 2% milk too. Aahhh.

By 12:145 we were back in the car taking SB to Referee a game at 1 pm. Spent 20 minutes figuring out how to get his bike to fit in the trunk first. As I made sure?I had him at the right field, he realized he’d left his stopwatch, penalty cards and whistle at home. I gave him my running watch for the first Half, and went back home to?get them for him. At least I didn’t have to go pick him up, because he would be riding his bike back down the hill home.

?So did I go home then? Have a shower, a nap, maybe? Nooooo.

LR wanted to?browse some garage sales, so I stopped at two. She?is thrilled to bits?with her new acquisitions:
– 1 stuffed dog she’s named Lucy (on the promise that it replace Grover, a ratty old one that I don’t like much)
– 1 flowery-dressed Barbie
– 1 Barbie-sized bike
– 1 set of 2 Playmobil horses, complete with riders and fences, so she can play “Spruce Meadows”.
I came home with a new set of black flat shoes, very suitable for work.

Shower-time now. Then supper, some laundry, and early to?bed. Big day tomorrow, too. I’m glad I went to the race package pick-up last night instead of leaving it until today. Photos later tonight, I hope.