Over the hump

   Today, I wish I could predate these. I really wanted to write yesterday, but I just didn't believe anyone wanted to read a post that said, "I ran... Far... Good night." That is just about all of the blogging that my remaining energy would've let me complete.  I was tired for a good reason though. Yes, running fourteen miles was a large part of it, but it was the evening's activities that not only used up most of my remaining energy, but also made me very proud. My young nephew had a Scouting awards banquet. He received a very high award for his age, the arrow of light. Only a very small percentage of Scouts get it. Great Job Samuell!
  So now, on to secondary business: yesterday's run. It was a perfect day for a long run - lightly overcast, nice and cool out. I think my Dad was definitely watching out for me. I didn't start out as early as I had hoped though. The route I had chosen for yesterday was a great run, but had every opportunity for being twice as hard as necessary. The wind on the bay tends to pick up, like clockwork, in the afternoon. That means that the chance of a head wind was great. Fortunately though, I got lucky. I started my run at a little past 1:00 which is normally right when the wind starts up. But not Friday. The wind didn't start until I was almost at my turn around point seven miles in, when it became a tail wind for me. Thanks Dad.
   I did a lot of pre-run prep for this one. As the runs get longer, that part becomes very necessary. I drive the route and every two miles or so I hide half bottles of water and Gatorade. During the marathon they offer it almost every mile, but I think that's a bit excessive for training. It does help a lot though. If you wait until you need it, it's too late. The other thing that I did was start training with sports gels. For anyone that isn't familiar with them, they are small pouches of carbohydrate protein formula. They help with muscle recovery and also really help maintain energy along the run. One of the biggest problems I encounter is that no matter what I eat before a run, by mile seven my stomach is growling. The gel packs seem to bring me something extra since I can't exactly have a sandwhich along the way. I wear a belt that I can carry these in and, at every other water station, I eat one.
   The prep seemed to work out for me. I finished my fourteen miles, just over the half way mark of a marathon, at my hopeful race pace of ten minutes a mile. That was VERY exciting; especially because I was a bit worried after my potential scare earlier in the week, and because, when I was done, I felt wonderful!  I think the greatest part of the run was when I suddenly realized that I had no idea how far I had gone. I wasn't paying any attention to the scenery and my brain had NO clue what my legs were doing. Seriously. I reached a point, I think around mile eight or nine, when I suddenly looked around and said to myself, "Huh! I'm here already? What happened to the rest of the run?" And I looked down at my feet and they were just doing what they do. My brain had nothing to do with it. That's a good feeling.
   Now, I feel I must be honest with everyone. I have to admit something. Through all the prep I did, and all the hard work I put in, I really owe the success of this one to something else. The real reason I got caught up and lost track of ten of the fourteen miles might have been compliments of something apart from hydration and nutrition. You see,  I had my radio going on Friday, and one of the local stations was doing a theme weekend, an 80's weekend! Yes ladies and gentlemen, I rocked fourteen miles to the 80's, and I loved every minute of it. Whew. Glad I got that out there. Now I feel much better about my next request. Since I had no responses to my much earlier post asking for a football game at the end of the race as motivation, I came up with an easier request... Can anyone hook me up with a playlist of great 80's music that I can put on my mp3 player for the marathon??