Sunday, February 20, 2011

18 Miler!

So yesterday I had the second 18 miler of my life. If you remember, the first (recap here: http://bananasandtoast.blogspot.com/2010/08/update-hm-race-recap-18-miler.html) I felt like crap a lot of the time, had a panic attack and ultimately ended up injuring my knee to a point where I couldn't walk for days and couldn't run for a couple weeks. This one was completely different. The run itself felt good other than a sore foot (not sure what's up with that, it feels fine today lol).

But yeah... I was incredibly nervous when setting out on the run since it was THE run that marked the end of my training last year. I even told myself that I wasn't allowed to sign up for another marathon until I was able to complete an 18 miler successfully. Well, I didn't stick to that, but even if I had, I would now officially be able to sign up for another marathon!

It does seem I have a wall though, at mile 16. This happened last year too. My group leader saw me kind of shut down mentally at mile 16 yesterday and told me to cover my watch with my sleeve so I wouldn't be able to see it anymore. That really helped. Something about KNOWING I'm past 16 miles screws with my head apparently. But physically, things were fine :). I'm pretty happy.

So, in summary, I'm really happy :) This whole marathon thing might work out after all. T minus 12 weeks at this point... I have a 20 miler, 22 miler, and another 18 miler and then a 2 week taper between me and this race :D.





Me in my ice bath afterward!!

7 comments:

  1. well done pushing through lauren. that must give you loads of confidence. smiling in an ice bath? u psycho :)

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  2. So great that your coach knows you well and helped you! Now your brain knows you can do it! Sounds like you have a great plan and working it well.

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  3. Kick ass! Love how you conquered the distance. And you didn't finish on fumes either. It was a very strong run on your part.

    And you know you are a runner when you talk about your wall at 16 miles. Does the average person even get anywhere near 16 miles? That would be a no. And all that is for you is a speed bump.

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  4. Awesomeness! Nice job driving through the 18 miles. You didn't mention if you ate anything during the run. Maybe a gel at mile 13 would help you over the bump at mile 16.

    Gotta love the ice bath. :)

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  5. Congrats on making it to 18 again! Girl you are going to do this! You've got this!!! Just keep reminding yourself that you are awesome!

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  6. Congrats Lauren! I know you were nervous about it but you rocked it girl! Good job on the ice bath. I'll have to try that sometime!!

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