Daddy Daughter Running: 20 miles!

Two days ago we conquered 20 miles. TWENTY MILES PEOPLE! That is crazy to me. Do you know how far 20 miles is? You may THINK you know 20 miles but hop in your car and drive around until your odometer actually hits 20 miles. You will realize you have driven ALL OVER. It's crazy.

It was kind of up in the air when we would actually do this run. We were a week behind our schedule but we had both been out of town so we weren't sure when to do it. We went back and forth about doing a mid-week run or waiting until the weekend. After checking out the weather it was decided to do the mid-week run. I am so glad we did it when we did it. We both are. We got it over with.

I was a little nervous about the run because I hadn't worked out too much or stretched my IT band since our 10-miler. Tom kept saying he was ready and pumped but I didn't know if he was just feeding me a bunch of bull because he had been out of town for work for over a week and was originally worried about doing the mid-week run because he hadn't ran for five days. But I didn't question his enthusiasm. I just tried to find my own enthusiasm. Actually it isn't that hard to kind of get excited because you just know what kind of accomplishment it is to actually run this type of distance. But you have to make it to the end to get this feeling. And making it to the end was what I was nervous about. I knew physically I could push my body to at least walk if I needed but I was worried about my IT band again.

We were both pretty pumped about the new route I created. We were starting at the top of 193 in Layton again and then would head west through Layton and end up in Syracuse. It was new scenery and seemed like it would have some good downhill and flat areas.

So Wednesday afternoon my dad picked me up at Stacey's house. She was kind enough to watch my kids and her house would also be the finish line. We headed to the starting line. After doing a few wardrobe adjustments and stretches we were off. We were both doing so good. Our form looked good, especially Tom's. He had pep in his step. :) By mile 5 I was shedding my outer shirt and by mile 8 I was making Tom take off his. He didn't want to, claiming he wanted to train in the heat, but later he was glad I made him. It was a warm afternoon. By mile 11 I was feeling slight pain in my IT band so every walk we did from then on out I would take 5-10 seconds to stretch it. At mile 15, just as we tried out the cherry chocolate shot turbo (and decided we didn't like it) we got hit in the face by the oh-so-sweet smell of the sewer plant. I think our speed increased on that road. My dad is starting to show a pattern because by mile 18 he was getting sluggish. It seems like any time we do a long run like this he starts getting slower about 2 miles before the finish line. He takes more walk breaks and just seems to really have to dig down to keep going. He said he doesn't feel tired or winded but rather his legs start hurting. We are thinking maybe he needs to start doing weight training on his legs. Anyways...right about this time I couldn't tell if my "encouragement" was bugging him more than it was doing any good and I started to inch away from him. I kept running when he took his extra walk breaks. It's hard to break your rhythm. If I stop more than what my brain knows from habit then it is so much harder to get going again. But even though he walked the majority of the last 2 miles I find it crazy that he only finished about 2 1/2 minutes after I did. His walking stride is so long that he can basically walk as fast as I run.

Now here we are two days after the run and we are both pretty sore. Oh by the way, my mom ran I think 10 miles that day too. She ran up by her house. All three of us felt great after our runs. It was later that night when we all started to struggle. I was in bed promptly at 9. They said they were in bed by 8:30. I woke up around 11 and ate THREE bowls of cereal I was soooo hungry. I had a restless sleep the entire night. And what sleep I did get was plagued by crazy dreams. I was also feeling pretty nauseous for about 24 hours. My mom said she felt like she was going to throw up all night. I guess she ate a big dinner and later regretted it. My muscles are sore but it is the good kind of sore. I rewarded myself with a massage today! It felt so good. Painful at times. But good. As I am typing I am icing my knees. My left one is stiff and seems a bit swollen. This is not my IT band problem side either. Ahhh the joys of running.

All in all I am VERY proud of us all. I can't believe my dad is doing this. Everyone is so shocked and in awe that he is running these distances. Way to go Tom! And my mom, she is crazy. She just wakes up and decides to run one day and hasn't stopped. Her distances surprise me. And she doesn't stop to walk either. I laughed when she told me she would choke every time she took a drink. I found out she was trying to drink while still running and couldn't do it. I told her it wouldn't kill her to walk long enough to squirt some water in her mouth. So funny.

**STATS**

Distance: 20.01 miles

Time: 3:25:09

Pace: 10:15/min/mile

TOM

Time: 3:27:41 pm

Pace: 10:23/min/mile

Temperature: 54 degrees

Time of day: 2:43 p.m

AT THE STARTING LINE