I ran 18 miles today. But I'm not sure what I'm more excited about - my 18 mile journey OR the fact that Michelle Kwan has finally returned to the ice!
As far I know, she's been away for 3 years now! An eternity in skating land. Even though I'm not crazy about the routine she performed, man, it's great to have her back. And basically the only thing that brought her out of retirement is Kim Yu-Na, the Olympic champ and South Korean mega-star who swears up down that Kwan is her hero. (demonstrated here in this super sweet little duet -awwww!)
Ok, no - I'm more excited about my little 18 mile jaunt. Let's be real here.
OR - ok, maybe I have to amend that. What I might actually be MOST excited about is the fact that I might actually have been mistaken for a marathoner today.
The Lakefront Marathon was going on today and I had several friends racing it. So Amy and I went to the start line to cheer our buddies on as they started on their 26.2 mile journey. And then we planned on getting our 'little' 18 mile run in while they suffered.
So we're walking around at the starting line looking for our friends all dressed to go for our run and it occurs to me that, omg, someone looking at me might actually think I'm running this marathon! Someone might think I'm a MARATHONER!
Holy crap!
I look the part!
That means I'm over halfway there, right?
Ha - well, I was until I started my pitifully slow 18 mile run and realized I still gots me a LOT of work to do.
But hey - the fact that I might even look the part is a heck of a lot closer than I was last year where I still thought a 15k was a reeeeaaaaalllllllllly long way to run. Now a half marathon is just something to do on a sunday (ok, or a bit more than that, let's be really real here)
I was heading out for a long run last weekend and I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. Sometimes I get really reflective before my long runs as I know I'm about to bury myself in the pain cave for a few hours. And so I looked at myself in the mirror as I was about to launch myself on this epic 15 mile journey and I said to myself, "girl, you look awfully stupid!"
Because I have completely fallen victim to a disease I like to call "Runner's condiments disease".
I have all the symptoms.
Compression socks
Geeky Visor (which I always swore that I hated)
Giant bulky black sports watch (but only because I lost my giant bulky PINK sports watch)
Completely annoying fuel belt (another thing I swore up and down I would never get)
All sorts of gus and chews and electrolytes, etc, etc, etc
Super nerdy running books
The most amazing recovery drink ever
A gazillion pairs of 100 dollar running shoes all in order to find the RIGHT pair of 100 dollar running shoes. A pair that doesn't aggravate my IT band, a pair that has enough forefront cushioning, but not too much heel, enough arch support, but not too much because that makes it too soft and over-corrects and causes knee pain.... AHHHHH!!!!!
Yep. I'm a full on victim of runner's condiments disease. "They" say that all you need for this sport is a pair of shoes. Oooohhhh, what lies. What rancid awful lies "they" tell.
Of course, in exchange for all these condiments, I have another collection that I'm actually quite proud of. My awesome, yet totally ill-fitting stack of race t-shirts! (I swear, I have maybe 2-3 tees in that stack that actually fit well and I wear all the time - the rest of them are relegated to night time tees or under-stuff tees. Most are either way too big or juuuuust too small. They really should have a fitting room at registration)
Just when I thought I had this running world figured out, it's like I delved into a new layer of sub-culture with this marathon training thing. Because ya know what - it SUCKS.
News flash - marathons are NOT easy.
Know how I know? Because 18 miles is NOT easy. And considering you have another 8.2 miles to run - and you hope to run it all faster than your adorable little training pace..... yea, I'm going to go out on a limb and say it again - marathons are NOT easy.
Of course, since I have yet to actually DO a marathon, that's just an educated guess at this point. Maybe I'm wrong?
(Unfortunately, I'm quite smart and I'm pretty much 95 percent sure I'm right on this one. Bummer)
Man.... I miss figure skating.....
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