Going For Broke

This has been a week of gearing up for big things and/or big changes to be made. A whopper of a change for Isaac is the impending start of Mother's Day Out (2 days per week, 5 hours each). On Thursday evening we went to the open house and saw his classroom and met his sweet teacher, Ms. Jennifer. I am very excited about this! I think he will learn so much and really enjoy his time at "school." They do actually teach the kiddos... it's not just babysitting. There is indeed a curriculum. And I will enjoy some much-desired "me time." Whoo hoo!

We also made the change to letting Isaac bathe in the "big boy tub," i.e. regular bathtub. He has been ready for this for months, but I just didn't want to see him leave behind the inflatable ducky tub.

I "doctored" a photo of him taken back in January. Here is the ducky I have so loved.

Here is my boy giving the look I often give while he enjoys the big boy tub.

Oh the fun he had splashing around! Check out all those teeth!

The next day things went south. Isaac started having fever with a vengeance, which I thought was teething-related. Now he has full-on congestion and it not eating hardly at all and is sleeping very sporadically. Thus, we are not getting good sleep around here. Aargh!

Never the less, I had a final pre-Chicago longrun to accomplish, and it HAD to be Saturday as I was booked on Sunday. I aimed to go at least 20 miles but preferably more. I really had to "go for broke" out there. Given the heat (which has returned in full force, lucky me) I really, really needed to have as much of the 20+ miler done by 8 AM as possible. Crazy, I know, but necessary. So I set my alarm for - brace yourselves - 1 AM. Yep - 1 AM. Given that I had not been getting good sleep, it is no surprise that I turned it off and overslept. I woke at 2:40 (late!!!) and sprang to action. I was at my church parking lot and hitting the start button at 3:31 AM. I parked there because it is basically my eastern-most safe-running out-and-back starting point. Our new house holds that honor on the west side of my course.

Given that my left big toe has always been very, very prone to massive blisters during 20+ milers, and my new toe cap had slid off due to sweat during a mid-week run, I opted to - brace yourselves again! - wrap it with gorilla tape. I have to say that worked wonderfully. Except... the seam I created on the inside of the big toe caused some rubbing and eventually some broken skin. So I think I will place the seam on top of my toe. I think that would be the lesser of all evils.

I used the Galloway 30:30 method that he recommends for running in the heat (walk 30 seconds, run 30 seconds). I simply just wanted to accomplish the miles and build up my endurance. It was not about speed! Here's how it went.

1) 14:13
2) 14:07

3) 14:19

4) 14:51

5) 14:42

6) 14:39

7) 15:23

8) 15:33

9) 15:44

10) 15:26

11) 15:33

12) 15:59

13) 15:43

14) 15:25

15) 15:56

16) 16:12

17) 16:52

18) 16:04

19) 16:14

20) 16:58

At this point I was back over by our new (still empty) house and thought "This is plenty. I've had it." I called Chasen and Isaac had woken with a fever yet again, so he was back asleep. Uh oh. I wasn't about to have him wake up my sick baby, so I said I'd just start walking. Every mile helps my endurance, by golly!

21) 20:01

22) 20:10

At this point I was sooooo tired and sore and my feet felt like they could burst info flames. I was 2 miles from home (forget the car parked at the church!) and was just dying for someone I know to drive by so I could wave them down to pick me up. No luck. And Isaac was still asleep. I contemplated calling a friend who lived near there to come get me, but I decided against it (because I am insane, apparently). The most I have EVER done in a training run is 22 miles, and that was 3 years ago.

23) 20:37

24) 20:46

By now I was in my neighborhood and was making literally the final turn before home and there came Chasen. "NOW?" I mouthed as he drove up. Jeez - you saved me all of a tenth of a mile, man! Ha.

Total - 6:32:00 for 24.02 miles

Average - 16:19 per mile

Man oh man - 24 miles. That is a long way. Mind you, my training plan actually called for 29. Eek! I was sooooo ready for an ice bath. I was hurting from the ears down (even my neck was sore). It's not every day that one runs 24 miles on less than 4 hours of sleep. Having to wake at 5 or 6 AM on marathon day will really seem like a vacation. Ha!

That night the most odd thing happened. I am usually hungry after such epic runs, as you can imagine, but this time it wasn't so much hunger as a craving. I craved salt for the first time ever. Past 9 PM I sent Chasen to the store. He brought back Rotel, pickles and olives. (No, I am NOT preggers.) I ate it like it was going out of style. Even today, the day after, I needed extra sodium (pickles) with my lunch.

The good news is that, thanks to the lovely ice bath, I was 100% recovered in less than 24 hours. No joke!

Now it's a downhill slide into Chicago. I still have a 14-mile speedwork session to accomplish 2 weeks from now (yes, 14, that is not a typo) but I feel I am as ready as I will be.

In other news, I have made the executive decision, based on several factors, to put off moving to our new house until a) after Chicago and b) after Chasen returns from his 10-day business trip overseas and "recovers" (whatever that may involve). Some "normal" would probably be best for Isaac and I as we face 10 days alone, 2 of which involve Isaac being "all alone" with a sitter as I travel to Chicago. So long as we have the "luxury" of owning our current home, we might as well make use of it!

What a journey... thanks for taking it with me.