Now, usually I run alone. Actually for this training I have exclusively ran alone. The reason for this is I don't have any friends who 1.) are training for a marathon or 2.) if they are, run the same speed I do. I've gone on one 6-mile run with Erich and I'm pretty sure he was bored as heck with my slow speed, despite the fact that he is not, "a runner." But, since this was going to be quite the milestone in my training, I thought I should find myself a buddy. It made most sense to turn to my new co-worker, Michelle, who is also participating in Run to Stop MS. We talk almost daily about our training. We talk about our accomplishments, downfalls and straight up disasters during our runs. We also happen to run at the same pace. Woot!
We scheduled our run to be at 6:30 a.m. Michelle coaches a high school soccer team in one of the suburbs and had a game at 11:15. This meant we had to start early. It was a little difficult for me because I had to "work" until 11:30 p.m. Saturday night at the U2 concert at TCF Bank Stadium. I say "work" because all I was doing was answering questions about the facility and this was the view from my post. Let's just say I got paid $10/hour to watch the greatest rock show I've ever seen. Yes, the stage is a giant space claw, and yes it was even fun when it started pouring rain.
Surprisingly, I didn't have a tough time getting up and out the door. We met at Minnehaha Park, my favorite place to start a run, and were on our way. The weather was in the 60's while we ran and boy did that make all the difference! Holy cow. No instant sweat today! I barely had to use my Amphipod, unlike last Sunday when I had to refill at each drinking fountain (bubbler?) I came across. Today was absolutely gorgeous for running.
Since running cross country in high school, I've known that running with a buddy helps with motivation. I'm pretty competitive with myself, and constantly challenge myself to push a little harder in my runs if I'm feeling good, but having someone with you offers a completely different type of encouragement. Just knowing someone is there and probably feeling the way you do is helpful. Having someone to talk to makes the miles fly by. Now, I'm not usually one to talk during my runs. I'm typically huffing and puffing too much to do any sort of talking. Not today. Today we talked about all sorts of things. We talked about why we're crazy for doing this, Michelle's love life, and stuff at work. Before I knew it, we were halfway done. We continued to talk for most of the other half. You could tell when we were getting tired when it gradually got quieter at the end of the run. The last mile or so we were really pushing each other along. I felt like I was back on Coach Greeno's cross country team. When we finally reached the end, we gave each other big high fives and congratulated each other on a job well done.
Now, I'm not saying that it was suddenly easy because I had someone with me. But, it was certainly easier. I found myself having less negative thoughts about the course and how I was feeling. I was either too distracted, or too busy encouraging Michelle along to have those thoughts. Telling her that the impending hill wasn't so bad made me actually believe it myslef. We now have a standing date each week to do our long runs together. Next week it's only ten miles. Hah, only! We're also going to be running together during the marathon which is such a relief. Michelle is a pro when it comes to hills despite her displeasure upon approaching them. I am not so much. She just powers up them, with seemingly no trouble. I think she has some things to teach me. :)
Upon returning home and posting our accomplishment on Facebook, my friend, Erin, from the National MS Society, Illinois Chapter asked if I want to participate in the Madison Mini Marathon. A half marathon on August 29th, in Madison, WI. I told her I'd think about it. But, the more I think about it, the more fun I think it would be. I haven't seen her since last summer and would love to get in a long road race. Hopefully It works out. I'm having more positive thoughts about it now than I was 12 hours ago. :)
The upcoming week is a "step back" week. I run 3-7-4 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, then 10 on Sunday. I'm looking forward to a little bit of rest. The following week peaks at 15 miles. 15! That'll be over half of the marathon. I'm really excited to see how well I do in the upcoming weeks as I approach my peak training mileage of 20 miles.
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