Today, I am a Teacher: We Can Do Hard Things!

Sunday was the biggest day of training yet--the 20 miler. The longest run of training, and arguably the most important. This was the one that would give me the best gauge on how the marathon will go. Because if I can do 20 miles, what's 6 more?

I'm a lucky girl, because I wasn't alone on this one. My BFF Janet made plans to come with me, carry extra water and other essentials, and just generally no let me quit. Oh, and also be my photographer📸! Which I really appreciated, because she stopped to take pictures I would have taken, and got some cool action shots of me :)

We started early, about 6:45, and good thing! Because it was yet another hot and humid day. We ran on the New Berlin Trail, from Waukesha to Greenfield Park, with a little loop around the park to hit the right distance, then back to Waukesha. The trail is important to Janet, because its where she taught herself to run, and where she's done all her training runs.I feel honored to have shared it with her for this run.

So, how did it go? I didn't die, and it wasn't awful. Starting early was a brilliant choice, because it wasn't quite so miserable for the first half. Once it got hot, it seemed that I felt it everywhere, from my legs, to my sweaty sweaty forehead. The sunscreen I put on my shoulders definitely helped, but I have some pretty rocking bra/tank top tan lines now.

Here's a funny for you. Midway back, I had to pee. Almost no bathrooms on the trail, just lots of tall grass. So I just found a nice spot to squat. No problem. Pulled up my big girls pants and kept running. Later I discovered that the top of one of those tall blades--about 3 inches or so, had gotten caught in my shorts. Consequently, I have the oddest chaffing mark I've ever seen...a red, raw, rectangle outline, on my lower, lower, back 🤣

But okay, how'd it really go? Honestly, it was pretty good. I ran the first 15 with almost no problem. When my body started to tell me I couldn't, I switched to a walk/run rotation for 4 miles. My knee was hurting, which it hasn't in forever. Felt worse when I walked. But I was in good spirits. And I knew, I just knew, that I was going to run that last mile no matter what. So when my watch beeped to tell me I had gone 19, I turned to Janet and said, "Okay, this is the "everything hurts and I'm dying" mile. Let's go!" And we did. And I did. Together we can do hard things!

I will forever be grateful for having Janet with me on this super important run. She knew when to give me gentle encouragement ("Five miles? You can wake up and do that easy any day!") when to pump me up with a favorite song ("Hooked" by Dylan Scott) and when to give me the space to do what I needed to do (see also, miles 15-19). I think my favorite part was when she reminded me that just 4 months ago, my response to her telling me I should train for a marathon was "No. Hell no!" And look at where I am now :)

So there ya go. 20 and done. Now we taper. Off to a great start this week and can't wait to tell you more. On the bright side, now that I've done 20, everything else should be a piece of cake...but I'll keep my fingers crossed anyway!