For for 5/28, 23 miles. The "suffering" run.

There is always that one run in my training that tests my limits. A run that pushes me and pokes at me, trying to get me to break. It starts at mile one and goes all the way to the finish.

Today was that run.

I was supposed to run 22 miles today. But since I have decided to participate in the June 11th, 28 mile training run up at Mt. Hood, I knew I needed to bump up the run. So, today I would run 23. Next weekend I would run 25, 10 and 14, 3 days in a row and then finally the training run.

What made the run today so especially tough was that I had a bad reaction to OTC medication last night and I spent 3 hours throwing up in the middle of the night. Now normally, I would have just cancelled the run and ran on Sunday or even Monday. But, my step daughter is coming today for 2 nights and we haven't seen her since January.

So I spent the morning, trying to get better. When I got to the point of being able to keep water and almonds down, I asked my husband to make me some fried potatoes and scrambled eggs. I ate a big portion and coffee and felt well enough to run.

I however changed my route a bit. Instead of hitting just the trail and the extreme Redwood Forest hills, I opted for a more flat, ocean route. I told my husband as I was leaving to grab my trail shoes and leave them on the front porch because my evil twin was already nagging at me about going to the trail.

Well I found a trail at about mile 5 and went on it for about 1/2 mile. I was feeling fairly good, no major complications, except for 2. There was an ouch on my little toe that I knew was going to get worst unless I got a band-aid and 2. I should have brought a PBJ sandwich instead of almonds. I sat down to look at my little toe and called my husband, asking him to bring some supplies, he lovingly did. It's not like he had to drive far to find me, maybe 1.5 miles. Plus when I asked him earlier "how many people do you know throw up for 3 hours and then head off for a 23 mile run?" and he said "just you." I quickly, put the band-aid on, changed into new socks and my trail shoes. The evil twin won. And, I headed off again.

For the remainder of my run, I was going to be on the trail. I was probably going to be on the trail for about 10 miles. Now, the trail that I originally wanted to be on, I didn't exactly go on. It starts out really steep, and then goes up and down and the ups and downs are steep. I only went on the initial really steep part. Let me explain. All the trails around here start out that way. Even the flat ones, you have to go up first, and then it may or may not get better, depending on the trail. So I went up and up (walked a bunch this time) and then down and over to a kind of flat trail, again kind of flat. Flat enough. I decided that I would go in 4 miles to where I knew there was a bathroom. When I got to the touristy place with the bathroom, I went to one of the stalls, opened it up and there was a man using it! I think I was more embarrassed than he was. Ooops. Well the locks don't work. When he got out, I promised him that I didn't see anything and I didn't and he was cool. I waited around the bathrooms for about 10-15 min because I was beginning to have stomach problems again and I was at about15 miles, 8 more to go. Even after I used the bathroom, I still continued to suffer from these stomach issues for the remainder of the run, but it was controlled.

For the remainder of the run, I walked more than I normally would. The combination of my throwing up last night and my stomach issues, I was beaten down. I finished the run on the road, running back to my house.

Now, I feel tired, little sore in my neck and upper body, but overall, not bad. I'm really looking forward to bed tonight....and my husband getting home to make dinner. Tacos?

Run for May 28th: 23 miles in 4:30.