19 Miles & Marathon Plans

First of all, I am officially signed up for the OBX Marathon.  It is on November 9th on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  It is a flat point-to-point course, and they seem to have some sort of pirate theme this year.

With that in mind, I went out for a 19 mile run on Dick Woods Road today.  I hit the road at about 7:40 this morning.  I was really not looking forward to this run.  There were 3 things that would make this extra hard:

• Dick Woods Road is hilly.  19 miles on this hilly road is tough.
• I would be carrying my water.  My track club wouldn’t be there setting up water coolers.
• I would be running solo.  No other runners to talk to or be distracted by.

It was a pretty exhausting run, but I was happy just to finish at this distance.   I had only a few odd pains and injuries:

• I was carrying a new water belt (the kind with one bottle on the lower back).  But by the 9-mile mark, it hurt my lower back so much I had to pretty much carry it.  I could probably get used to it, but it was too long of a run to try something new.
• I got a blister on the back of my foot on mile 6.  I have been wearing these shoes for about a month now.  How can I get a blister on mile 6?

Of course I saw a few interesting things happen on my run:

• At 1.5 miles, there was a horse that was scratching his butt against the wire fence.  It was pretty funny.
• At 13 miles, I passed the stalker dog.  He sits low in his yard until you pass him.  Then he takes off after you.  Luckily I remember him, and I was ready for him.  I really wish people would contain their dogs.
• At 17 miles, a couple cows were out in the road.  I gave them plenty of room.  We just watched each other as I ran by.  Then they went back to munching on the grass on the side of the road.  

I was pretty happy with my run.  I think it’s the longest I have ever run without cramping up or having one of my mental breakdowns.  I think this is because of my new ritual of drinking a bottle of GatorAde before bed.  My marathon training is going much better than it did last year.  Let’s just hope the marathon goes better as well.