Schmoooookin it!

31 Days, 16 Hours, 15 Minutes, 32 Second to MARATHON TIME!!!!!!  Woot Woot!!  Last week our long run was a 17 miler.  We logged 36 miles total for the week.  What a week it was.  Andrea was going out of town for the weekend, so she ran her 17 miler on Friday.  The first thing I thought of when I woke up Friday, was her out there running.  I was excited and nervous for her.  You get spoiled running with a good partner.  You get used to having them help you through the tough times but we were both on our own this week.  Before long a post came on Facebook....she made it!  I was stoked!!  Then I shifted gears to being nervous about my own run.  On Saturday, I got up about 4:30 a.m.  It took me longer than usual to get out the door.  By 5:15 a.m. I was on my way.  I criss-crossed through town logging some miles hoping I would have a little bit more light before I hit the outskirts of town.  No such luck.  It was an eerily dark morning with no light other than the glow of the stars.  The moon had long since set and the sun was still snoozing.  As I headed out of town, I felt great!  I had made a couple trips to Coral Canyon Chiropractic this week to see if they could help me out with my chronically tight IT band.  Whatever they did made a huge difference.  I was schmoooookin it, laying down rubber, cruisin'!!!!   But about mile 13, my hip muscle started balling up.  I had ran nonstop without a single break.  Just when things were getting tough, I saw my hubby coming up the road on his bike.  I stopped briefly for about 30 seconds so he could rub out the knot in my hip, then I was off again.  The more my muscles knotted, the faster I ran.  I knew if I stopped, I'd be done for the day.  I crossed my finish line in a record time of 2 Hours, 18 Minutes.  I was overwhelmed with excitement and relief, because the week before had been such a struggle for me.  Marathon training is full of ups and downs.  That run instilled a confidence I know will carry through to race day.

Nissa