18 Miler... Success!

I completed my first 18 miler last Saturday!  I was extremely nervous about being able to run this far, because I attempted to do an 18-er 2 weekends previous at McMullen Creek, but cut it short at 12 miles because I was running like 9:30 pace, and probably doing more harm than good.  I think that that run was so painful, because although it is a beautiful greenway, it can be extremely boring running on a flat course by yourself.  The worst part about McMullen (although to some, it might be the best part) is that there is a marker for every quarter mile.  I anticipate every quarter mile, and do math equations in my head, as to how much farther I have to go on this dreadful run... only .25 into a 16 miler... that must mean I am 1/64th done... eek!

I was also worried about how I would stay fueled on my long run.  Since Gu is the most disgusting condiment (yes, I consider this a condiment) on the face of the earth, I decided to try a more natural energy fuel, and our runner friend Catlin suggested Honey Stingers.  The Gold flavor is basically straight honey, which is exactly what marathoners used to use before all of the artificial fuels were developed.  So what about water/gatorade?

By a lucky coincidence, the Dowd YMCA 1/2 Marathon was also taking place on Saturday morning.  The race starts and finishes exactly 2.5 miles from our house, which would be a perfect way to get an 18 miler in!  I timed it perfectly.  I missed the start of the race by about 5 minutes, so I was playing catch-up for the first 2 miles.  I kept getting suck at intersections that had been closed during the race, so police were letting all of the traffic clear up, which is why it took so long to finally catch up to the runners. 

Stuffing my face with a Honey Stinger!

I had bandited races before, but I felt really guilty about banditing such a long distance race, drinking their Gatorade and water and sneaking in their photos, but the motivation from getting to pass people during the entire race (since I started late), and having people along the course cheer for me, overcame my guilt pretty quickly.  I was cruising at a nice, steady pace and wasn't looking at my watch every quarter mile, dreading the next couple hours.

Only after I broke off from the runners and started my journey home, did I start feeling the pain.  I was having some serious stomach pain, and after I finished my run, I was not regulating my body temperature very well, and I could not get warm until I was suddenly soaked with sweat and freezing again.  I finally got my body under control and rode up to Durham to watch an old runner friend from high school get married... congrats Candy!

I guess that means I only have 8 miles to go.  Yikes!