SMP
ok. so 18 miles. (newly added...my garmin graph of my run. can we say up down up down up down up down? yeah. i think we can!)
why is it every saturday after a run, whenever i talk about how far i just ran, i want to laugh? i dunno what thats about... but anyway. 18 miles.
so here's the thing about this run...
last week, we did hill training at Shawnee Mission Park. now, if you were from the area (KC) you would know right away that SMP sucks. its known, in the running community, for its hills, and its severe suckage. that being said its immensly popular...for the exact same reasons.
so last week was 8 miles of hill training at SMP. and if you remember correctly, it almost put an end to me and this whole marathon thing (not really...but it did suck)... the one thing that got me through that run though, was this thought...
"these hills suck. omg this sucks. i hate this, this sucks"... ok wait, not that. THIS... "i only have to do 8 miles. only 8. next week i have 18 but theres no way we're running here, so its fine. get through 8 and you'll have a flatter run next week. 8, 8, 8, only 8. i can do this...."
well, imagine my surprise, when i got the TNT email saying that this weekend we would be running our 18 at..... Shawnee Mission Park!!!!! (and in this scenario, surprise = very colorful language!!)
wanna know what made it even better (and by better i mean.... not better)... this is the email i received from my training mentor (who has run roughly 50 marathons) in regards to our run...
"....4 loops around SMP...this may very well be tougher than our 20 and 22."
awesome, right?!
however... it was ok. i had phenomenal runs all week, and so i wasn't too terrible outta control worried about it (i wont go so far as to say i looked forward to it, because i'm not, ya know, completely insane, but i wasnt dreading it as much as i have various other runs...)
so, i went to bed early, woke up, body-glided/vaselined/deodorized myself in all the appropriate areas (some of which...quite surprising!!) and off i went.
the run itself can pretty much be broken up into 4(5) phases.
phase 1 = shawnee mission mountain (very steep, but not too long of a hill. but its steep. its like STEEP.... did i mention its steep? no? ok. well. it is.)
phase 2 = leaving the park to run around town, under a highway, over a highway, then back into the park. this wasnt bad. this was actually pretty great and i was loving life at this point. got a little ahead of myself by thinking i was gunna knock out 18 miles no problem, but regardless, i actually enjoyed these 7.5 miles
phase 3 = two loops around SMP. (same thing i did last weekend) needless to say.... this was pretty terrible. like pretty much horrible. however, Stripe Shirt Girl was back, as was Headphones Girl and The Blonde...and we all run roughly the same pace, and lets face it, misery loves company... so as bad as it sucked...it wasnt SO bad.
phase 4 = me taking off in my own direction like the total putz that i am and finishing out the run solo-style. this was kinda stupid on my part, and i shouldnt have done it and i know that now, but what can i say... i just do dumb things sometimes?!!! anyway, it meant me going a little out of the way, tacking on at an extra quarter mile and just basically it was stupid and it made for a very NOT enjoyable last 3 miles.
phase 5 = total and complete loss of mental capacity. at one point, i was passing one of my teammates, going in opposite directions, and i yelled out to her (in hopes of encouraging her, because at this point she was about 3.5 miles behind me.... i'm a horrible person and probably going to hell because of this...but she used to be one of the ones i couldnt keep up with, so i might've enjoyed knowing that i was almost a half hour ahead of her. like i said. going to hell.) anyway, regardless, i yelled out "gah cawwie awmss deh" (translation: "go carrie you're almost there!!!")
yeah. she gave me a look of "WTF" but smiled and waved (she's nice. she's probably NOT going to hell) and i decided yelling at people while in the physical/mental state i was in, was probably not such a good idea.
so, i finished up my last half mile (in silence) and.... ta-daaaa. done!!
i was soaking wet (in a rather disgusting way) and smelled amazingly foul (in a wow. i didnt know girls sweat/stank like that kind of a way. yeah, thats hot, right?!) and after chugging unhealthy amounts of water and gatorade, came home, took an ice bath and now....now i am just looking forward to being horizontal for the next few hours!!!
Comments
DATE: 8:28 AM
> "She's nice. She's probably NOT going to Hell"That line nearly killed me.
Posted by: bitweever | July 4, 2006 8:03 PM
DATE: 1:02 PM
Well, it's good to hear you survived your 18 miler. I had to buy new shoes for my 20 mile Sunday run (since my main pair got soaked both Thursday and Sunday).It sounds like you were awfully close to a purple person bonk based on how you said you were talking. That's where you start seeing things like little purple people climbing down cliffs. One elite runner actually stopped in a race to watch that happen.No matter how you look at it, you're almost to the point that the marathon is easily within your reach. If you get one more long run under your belt, you're there. If you do any runs over 20 miles, take those easy. Over 15 is where you make long distance gains.
Posted by: Tom | July 4, 2006 8:03 PM
DATE: 9:37 AM
Having lived in Overland Park once upon a time, I know exactly what you are talking about. Great job on the run!
Posted by: Vertical Man | July 4, 2006 8:03 PM
DATE: 9:04 AM
Awesome...maybe everyone will stink the same at the end of the marathon. My family will probably make me ride on TOP of the car on the way home! Good job!
Posted by: Flatman | July 4, 2006 8:03 PM
DATE: 7:36 AM
Well done you! What a great run ... 18 miles and hills, that's awesome.I love that you rented chariots of fire ... I've never seen it, but during dull moments on runs I have been know to do my own version of the theme song ... which always turns into the bionic man song some how.
Posted by: ali | July 4, 2006 8:03 PM
DATE: 1:47 PM
18 miles with the Hills of Hell all rolled into one wonderful "thank gawd that's over" morning. Sweet. Your entry was very entertaining. Thanks for telling us all about it. And don't worry too much about the stink, so long as you hang out with others with the same number of miles behind them.
Posted by: David | July 4, 2006 8:03 PM
DATE: 9:06 PM
OK, I have 4 daughters (ages 17-23) and, yes, I knew girls could smell like that! SOunds like you had a great training day. Way to go!
Posted by: Vertical Man | July 4, 2006 8:03 PM
DATE: 8:00 PM
oh we so rock. YOU so rock! You ran 18 miles up HILLS????and the whole sweat thing; yeah, who knew we could smell like that. How 'bout we run a marathon next?
Posted by: jeanne | July 4, 2006 8:03 PM
DATE: 6:51 PM
You did it! You conquered the 18-miler and lived to tell a great story about it!Pats on the back and high-fives!Wooo hoo!
Posted by: Running Chick | July 4, 2006 8:03 PM
DATE: 5:24 PM
Good job. I'm doing 16 tomorrow and am scared about that. I think 18 is going to be my longest run before I run the marathon. gulp. (It was supposed to be 20!)
Posted by: Stephanie | July 4, 2006 8:03 PM
DATE: 2:18 PM
WOW!!! Pretty soon you'll be telling us how amazing the marathon was. And you said you couldn't do it. You rock!
Posted by: db | July 4, 2006 8:03 PM
DATE: 11:38 AM
wow what an awesome run A, unbelievable. what a great accomplishment! i have yet to tackle 18, i hope mine goes as well as yours did! i totally get that lack of mental capacity thing after so many miles, heehee you described it perfectly. i'm sorry did you say something about getting horizontal? huh? ooops i know this is a family show but some other things came to mind when you said that. teehee.
Posted by: brent | July 4, 2006 8:03 PM