18 miles...

Holy Cow! This weekend training was super hard! Bucket picked me up and we went to Balboa Park. As we were doing our warm up loops around the parking lot I saw a teacher who I work with and admire a great deal! Mr. Witt has ran the LA Marathon 21 times! The LA Marathon has only existed for 21 years so what does that tell ya! Anyway, with his quick wave, I was off.

Gayla and I took off running and I was feeling really good. The first two laps around were a breeze (that is 10 miles). I had no aches or pains and was feeling strong. But somewhere in that third loop (which is miles 11-15) i lost a bit of my mojo!

So, here is why I love Gayla......

She tells me over and over that I can do this and I know that I can. I had no doubt that I was finishing 18 miles today. I just wasn't expecting needing the extra push from her somewhere around mile 13. Anyway, Gayla told me to drop a few steps behind her and focus on her feet. At first I was thinking she was crazy because I wasn't sure if I would keep up with her if I dropped behind her! But this lady is sooooooo good to me!

I go behind her a few steps and before I know it, all my brain is doing is telling my legs "LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT" and next thing I know, we are done with miles 1-15.

I felt bad at first but Gayla told me not to worry. She said that she was there for me and I loved that! SO, we keep going onto the smaller loop and Gayla wanted to play a game to try and make it go quicker. That didn't really work for me because my brain stopped somewhere around mile 14 and all it knew how to do now was tell my legs "LEFT, RIGHT!"

As we are running the smaller 3 mile loop, we are introduced to the ARMY RESERVES that train at Balboa! OH MY GOSH - DID THAT EVER LET ME KNOW HOW MUCH I WOULD NOT SURVIVE THE MILITARY! They were chanting their songs and being forced to do push ups while yelling out "Thank You Drill Sargent" and I thought to myself "SHHHHHHHHHHH!" I just wanted silence!

Still following Gayla's feet and listening to my brain say "LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT!" I had made it to the street again which let me know I only had about 1 1/2 miles to go. It was, bay far, the hardest 1 1/2 miles of my life, but I finished it strong like Gayla says to do. She always says, "you are not saving it for anything so go for it" and that really makes me feel good at the end.

When I was finished all I wanted to do was be left alone. I walked over by some trees and just walked around. I could not feel my legs and that sucked. I took some silly pictures for Bucket and then reintegrated myself with the teammates. They all said I looked mad! I told them I was in pain!!!!!

Very sore all day but feels great to know that I finished 18 miles today! 18 miles!