What you can learn from running 18 miles from a beginner.

Surprisingly, I wasn’t tired when my bladder woke me up before my alarm sounded off.

I got up and went straight to the kitchen to make my typical oats and brew some coffee.

I have a morning routine on early race days, but I’ve noticed that if I wake before 4:30am, my body rebells and refuses to do my normal poop session.

ANY other morning it goes like this…

Wake

PEE

make oats

drink water

brush teeth

POOP (while oats cool)

Eat

put on run gear

PEE again

Leave house

At 3am, my body said…WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!

So, I did all the other routine tasks, but no pooping happened and that can be concerning running 18 miles.

Right at 4 AM, as I am supposed to be on the road, I can’t find my gels. I had sat them out on the counter, but my son who cleans the kitchen every night has put them away.

I kept saying…just breathe, Just breathe.

I knew that I had an hour drive, I am always the last one to arrive and I didn’t want to be late this time. Plus, what if I needed to stop at QT to poop?!

Finally I found it and raced out the door.

THIS IS NEVER A GOOD VIBE to have before running a new distance, or any distance for that matter.

I kept breathing, trying to calm my nerves.

I turned on worship music and got lost in it.

With my windows down, September fog in the air, I put my arm out my window.

I was fully aware of my body this morning.

Every tender place on my body spoke to me; I felt my shoulders, my wrists, my ankles.

My WAZE was already set for my drive to Smyrna. Ready to meet the fabulous ladies of Black Girls Run.

What I didn’t realize until after I arrived, was the address had populated WRONG!

I was 8 miles away from my destination. ARGH!!

BREATHE APRIL BREATHE!

Once at the right location, all my stress melted away.

Today there were more ladies than ever! There were about 14 of us all training for something.

Some were training for the Chicago marathon, while others for New York, a few for Berlin and some just getting in miles.

This was powerful to see so many black ladies running long distance.

AND WE WERE OFF!

This route was very hilly even though we were told it was pretty flat.

Honestly, It’s very difficult to find flat areas to run in Atlanta. Running on true flat pavement is the true unicorn.

I wanted to get the the front of the pack because I have been the slowest. Unfortunately, that didn’t help. I ended up falling back pretty early in the run.

In the dark shadows, I trotted forward.

Although I was running with 14 others, due of my pace, I often run solo on group runs.

This has been mental challenge to ignore all the self defeating thoughts that I have when I run with a group.

Most days, certain ladies will circle back to make sure I am ok, but there are times, when I have run alone, in the pitch dark.

I have felt very vulnerable at times when this happens.

But, today my girl Pam came back for me. She had gone to the rest room earlier and saw I was pulling up the rear, and decided to watch out for me.

At around 6 miles, she asked if I wanted to run back and do the more flatter route.

In my head, I was already entertaining this idea, I just didn’t want to go alone because it was so dark.

We ran back in the opposite direction and finished our run.

Over the course of this 18 miles, I would feel an ache here and there. A technique I would use was to breathe to those challenged areas in my body. I sent breath to my left hip; breath to my right arch in my foot.

I was completely conscious of how my body felt. I refuse to PUSH it! There was no need to go fast. I wanted to find a groove and stay there, even if my pace was at a 15 min mile pace. I wasn’t trying to prove anything to any one, especially myself.

I have learned from past injuries that it’s not worth trying to be fast when my body is saying something different.

After 4 hours and 25 mins, I had run 18 miles. Heels burning, blister on my right toe had made it’s appearance again.

I had tired legs, but I wasn’t in pain.

I felt STRONG…ACCOMPLISHED!