No, I didn’t get a dog. Sad, I know.
But yesterday, Karen and I started December with our first 20 miler. I was in pain before we started; my 2 hour gym session on Friday was a terrible idea because my thighs and glutes were on fire just getting out of the car. Karen was dealing with a terrible cold, and before mile 10 my nose started bleeding. This is what marathon training is all about: being gritty, touching out the tough runs because they make you stronger, and having an awesome partner to get you through it, or for you to get them through it!
The first few miles were miserable because of my legs just being dead, but after a couple, I started to get into a groove. Then we both looked at our watches at mile 6 and thought “wait, that’s it? This is going to be terrible”. But at least we had a nice, peaceful trail on which to run.
Thankfully we had each other, some very rude families who refused to move so we could get by, and one funny man we kept passing, and then he’d pass us, for like 3 miles. We kept chatting, and narrowing our focus from “only x more miles” down to “only 1/Xth of a mile left in this one” to “only 30 seconds until we can walk”. We broke it down into bit sized pieces, and with 4 miles left, I broke out my favorite RockMyRun mix: Fit to Fight, which gave us a little extra power.
We also had some random inspiration illegally added to park benches to keep us moving.
It was not wonderful. Let me be completely honest:
I grunted
I growled
I whined
I got strong when I needed to, but nearly crumbled a couple of times
Most of all, we finished it. And got to see part of Princeton’s campus for our last mile.
In 6 weeks, we’ll have completed our first marathon, and while it will not be easy, we will not stop until we’re done. I want that Mickey medal!!!
RunStretchGo 
Wahoo! Congrats ladies!!
Glad you got through it! So much fun to have a friend to train with. As you know I ran a marathon yesterday, and it was SO much better with a friend. At mile 20.5 we finally put on some music… the Fit to Fight RockMyRun mix. It really is such a great mix!
That is the perfect mix to finish up your first full!!! Congrats 🙂 I’m looking forward to being able to call myself a marathoner. 35 more days
you are totally rocking it, well done.
Way to get through the 20 miler even though you very easily could have stayed at home in bed. Maybe adjusting the gym classes to compensate for the long run weekends will help give your legs the much needed rest before the runs. At least this point in training when its SO MANY MILES I know I had to stop my HIIT class. Keep up the good work and training only 6 weeks!!!!!
We did it! We finished and didn’t give up, that’s what’s most important! Couldn’t have done it without you! xo
PS. Loved the Rock My Run remix at the end!
It’s difficult but you just have to keep moving forward. Nice job! I know you’re 6 weeks out, but the worst is kind of over. 🙂 20 mile training runs are horrid!
Congrats on pushing through! 20 miles is no joke. Those painful long runs will help you push through the tough parts on race day!
Thanks! I know its better to have that experience now, with the opportunity to learn for the next one and race day. I completely agree!
Oh I will have to check out that song that pumped you up! i’m in need of pump up songs for cycle class.
You guys are rockstars- I know I’ve already said it – but WOW! I would never attempt that so go you!
PS- love the headband!
Emma, you should check out RockMyRun. They are mixes that cover every possible genre of music, and there are tons that could be perfect for spin class or your runs. There are quite a few that are free, or y can get a monthly subscription for the premium ones.
Headband: Lulu 😃
YOU DID IT! Thanks for laying it all out there and not being all “it was so wonderful and I was happy and there were butterflies and rainbows”. 😉
Also, my husband lived in that very building during grad school! Did you run up that hill in the last mile because if you did, KUDOS to you!
It was rough! And, what a small world. We shuffled up that hill 😉 there was no chasing hills hard at that point!
That hill is ridiculous! Actually, I think at mile 20, any hill would be.
Also, Princeton might be why he didn’t know “Brrrrr… Its cold in here”
I think he was playing dumb because later he said something about the Toros in the atmosphere. 😉