The holiday break/vacation began around 1pm on Friday and I could not have been happier. In my life, I do not remember looking forward to 10 days off more than I did, last week. So, it’s here and I am still enjoying it.
Saturday evening mom flew in from St. Louis. I warned her that there’s typically a 30 degree change in temperature from morning to afternoon to evening – but I don’t think she was quite prepared for it to actually be cold at times. She’s complained several times that this weather is really no different than St. Louis (eye roll). Wait ‘til she calls home and my brother informs her that he awakened to snow on the ground – then we’ll see just how “like” St. Louis our weather is .
That being said, I’ve really enjoyed her visit. On Sunday, I invited my good friends D and Brent over for Christmas with the Jews, where I assured them both there would be a holiday meal and lots of games. D showed up around 9:30am with all of his presents (from his family) and we had the opportunity to Skype with his entire family in Philadelphia. Two of the great things about my friendship with D are his parents, Lynette and Mark – oh, and their friends. It was really fantastic to watch their neighborhood come alive in their living room in Philly. My good friend, Bob – their neighbor from across the street – has become a pretty amazing runner these last couple of years, so I always love seeing him or hearing his voice in the background, since he and I are merely FB friends. He pulled his ten miler this weekend with an 8:15 pace. Oh, how I envy his skill.
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| Picture taken during our run in Oct! |
Another friendship that blossomed out of a love for running is my friendship with Brent. We met in July when Ben Davis hosted a 5K in Tempe. After the 5K, Brent and I were fortunate enough to be sitting at the same table over dinner and became fast friends. We've remained friends via FB and our blogs (Brent's is here) - and, of course, the 10 miler he joined me for in October as I trained for the St. Louis marathon.
Brent joined us around 1pm for the holiday. I invited him knowing he was from out of town and had no family in the area. And, I was simply thrilled that he accepted my invitation to join us!
Brent, D, mom and I played Trivial Pursuit and Mexican Train (Dominos) for hours and hours and hours. I won none of the above, but it was an absolute blast. I honestly cannot remember such an enjoyable holiday with friends and family. We even sang the Hanukkah prayer and had Brent light the candles. However, around 9pm, I announced that everyone needed to leave so that I could rest up for what would be my last truly long run before the marathon – 20 miles – the following morning.
Sadly, I slept poorly – tossing and turning, thinking about the potential success and/or failure of the 20 mile run I was about to do. I think I slept in 2 hour increments. It wasn’t terrible, but not the kind of sleep one hopes for before a long run.
I awakened at 5:30am and thought about my route – two 6 mile loops, one 4.5 mile loop and another 3.75 mile loop – 20 miles. In order to make things easy on everyone, I kept my 20 mile run close to home. The only problem with running near my house – it’s all hill training. My last 20 mile run was to Anne’s house in Chandler – flat, flat, flat (save a highway overpass or two). I completed it in 3:30 – and knew that would not be a reality with the hills. But, I had high hopes.
The toughest hills are in the first two 6 mile loops. The view and scenery of the Equestrian area of Ahwatukee are fantastic, but I took it easy – my pace was right around a 10:15. I wanted to be able to finish this run and talk about it today. I staged water and Gu a block from my house and on the route (for the most part). The really tough part of the run came in my last loop – there’s an unavoidable hill, 1.5 miles up. I started to ascend it and mid-way through thought, “Meh, there’s no hill like this in the Phoenix marathon,” so I walked about 3-4 minutes of it. The walk felt great, but as I saw another runner approaching, I figured it would be awful for her to see me walking, so I trudged my way up the hill. 5 minutes later, I took another small walk break, but knew the finish line was approaching. My Garmin had been beeping for 4 miles, telling me that the battery was low; I just wanted to finish the run so I wouldn’t lose my data. It made it to the 20-mile-beep and, although I continued running for another ½ mile, I stopped it as soon as it hit 20. And, fortunately, the data was intact when I got home to plug it in.
3:37 – not the 3:30 from 2 weeks prior, but with the hills and necessary water/Gu rests, I’ll take it. Three and a half hours is a long time to think about anything. I think I speak for a lot of runners when I say that the thinking part really becomes an issue after the second hour. It’s almost like we’re all “thought-out” and now all we can do is focus on the pain or the boredom. This is why having people on the marathon route is so critical for runners. The distractions are amazing – and looking forward to seeing someone you know is a wonderful boost for the 15-20 minutes of running you do before their mile marker. I have been VERY fortunate – each and every marathon I have completed I have had a slew of friends and family on the route. I have no idea who might be willing to be out there, this time around – but the marathon is Sunday, January 15th – and I would be eternally grateful to any and all who would be willing.
Mom departs on Wednesday morning and I will be sad to see her go. She was all smiles, yesterday morning, when I walked in from my 20 mile run. “You look great for someone who just finished 20 miles,” she said. Ahhhhhh – I needed that!
Just a couple more MUCH shorter runs to go. Happy New Year, everyone!
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