Milestones

I hit two very big milestones last week. The first is that I managed a 14 mile run! Well, more of a run/hobble, but I'll get to that later. The 2nd milestone is that I've run 500 miles since I started tracking in August. My goal was to get to that point by Mothers Day, and I did it on Friday!! Go me!! (Do you love how I constantly brag about my accomplishments on here?)

A little detail about my run:
The night before (thursday) Rick drove me out to my turnaround point so I could stash water bottles. I put one at 4 miles and one at 7 miles. My plan was to drink half at 4 miles, a whole bottle at 7 miles, and then the other half at 10 miles. My plan was perfect! I did joke to Rick that it was kind of like hiding easter eggs only to have to wait 12 hours to find them. My 4 mile one was a little challenging to find.

When I got up to leave it was only 41 degrees, but I knew it would be around 60 by the time I finished. What to wear? I decided on pants, short sleeve shirt and long sleeve shirt. That way I could take off the long sleeve shirt when I got hot. Again, my plan worked perfectly! Well, sort of, but we'll get to that in a minute.

The first 9 miles of my run were beautiful. It was just a fantastic run. For some reason at mile 9 my left leg kept collapsing. I was stumbling along like (insert mean joke about someone I know here. People I went to high school with: I have a feeling you will know). Anyway, I stopped to walk and stretch and that took care of it. The only problem is that I couldn't get back going. The next couple of miles were pretty rough, but I was making it. I hit mile 11 and smacked into a wall. It was awful. I had to drag myself the last 3 miles.

With 2 miles to go Rick's dad drove by. I was so tempted to flag him down and beg for a ride. I didn't though, and I'm glad. With about 3/4 of a mile I seriously stopped my ipod and just sat down on the road. I wanted nothing more than to cry. I finally got up and drug myself home. When I walked past the post office on my cool down and old man was outside. He said "good to see you getting some exercise!" Really dude? Clearly you don't know me or you would realize I do this every day. I said, "yeah. I ran 14 miles." He says, "huh" and gets in his car. He's lucky I didn't break out my ninja moves and kick his butt.

Anyway, I got home, showered and drove to Independence for Adam's field trip. It was at the park/zoo, which meant walking for hours. Maybe better planning on my part would have helped. I had planned to go pick up my shirt on the way and forgot due to blinding pain. Friday evening Rick and I drove out to pick up my water bottles and shirt. See how good I am? I littered, but picked up after myself later. The water bottles were no problem. We found them quickly. The shirt is another story. I knew it was by the river against a tree. Problem: There are hundreds of trees along the river. I told Rick, "it's right after that sign." Ok, it may not have been right after the sign, but it was within 1/4 of a mile. I'm pretty sure I frustrate the heck out of my husband.

This weekend was Mothers Day, so I hope all of you had a great one. I know I did! I have the best kids in the whole world :)

~Mel