Saturday 18 Mile Run

Eighteen Miles!! After all I've been through in the last week or two, I thought I'd never make it. In case you're wondering where I've been, let me explain.

After running 16 miles two Saturdays ago, I went on to run 4 and 8 miles the following Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. Then Wednesday night, the day before Thanksgiving, we went to stay with my dad in Swainsboro. And here's where the fun began.

After enjoying some wonderful seafood stew my dad made, we all settled into bed with dreams of turkey dancing in our heads. Then it happened. Around 3am I was startled awake by Wendy flicking on the lights to our room and declaring "I'm sick!" And that she was. She had it coming and going, if you know what I mean.

She couldn't keep anything down, so by 10am we were in the emergency room getting IV fluids with phenergan to settle her stomach. Well after the IV I took Wendy back to dad's so Sarah and I could have lunch at Grandma's. Wendy pretty much slept all day Thursday. I managed to get in my 5 mile run that afternoon by strapping Sarah's car seat into dad's golf cart and having them follow me down the dirt road at dad's house.

Of course you've probably guessed what happened next. No I didn't get sick. But dad sure did. He came down with it about 3am Friday morning. By 6am we were in the car and on the way back to Savannah. There was no doubt now that this junk was contagious and me and Sarah sho' didn't want none of that.

Well, if only. I got up at 5am on Saturday to run 12 miles with Dane. I had eaten a large Stouffer's lasagne the night before, so I held out hope that the nasty experience I had in the bathroom shortly after waking could be blamed only on that. If only. Nine miles into our run I could run no more.

My stomach was not feeling well. I left Dane and walked over a mile back to the house. I almost made it. Three doors down the flood gate opened up. Ironically, I managed to hold it just long enough to blow chunks the yard of the woman who accused me of peeing in her yard one morning a couple of months back.

Now I got to experience all the fullness of the gift Wendy and my dad had already been blessed with. It stunk. I hurt. It was a bad 3 days. Thankfully, I was finally able to start eating again around 11pm Monday night.

I took Tuesday off then ran only about 2.5 miles Wednesday night on the treadmill. I could have run further but I was too bored and it was too hot in the house. I got up early Thursday morning and ran the regularly scheduled 9 miles. Things were finally back to normal.

My watch came back from Garmin Friday. Yippee!! I plugged it in to charge before we headed out to Dudley and back for Wendy's brother's 40th birthday party. We didn't get home until about 11pm but I was still up by 5am to run 18 with Dane.

We ran a 6 mile loop through Armstrong and the neighborhood 3 times. We started kind of slow, and I forgot the start my watch until the 2 mile mark. After the first 6 miles and a gel, we kicked it up a small notch. The run went well. It wasn't until about the 15 to 16 mile mark that it started feeling pretty hard. But we finished well, cruising along at about a 9:45 pace at the end.

Alright, well that's definitely enough said for one night. This week is a 5-9-5 for Tues-Wed-Thurs. Then a 14 on Saturday.

See ya!