Thats a record kids! 22 Miles!
I must admit that this map does not reflect the grandiose nature of my perception of this run but, Ill take that up with Sir. Rand McNally.
So the last big 20 mile run was on the plate for this weekend and honestly I really just wanted to get it over with for a few reasons:
- I have set this as the benchmark of “Wow, if I can run 20 then I can do 26.2” to make the marathon real.
- Spring Break 2016!!! whoooo! 🙂 I worked Mon -Thurs at the Fiume House so I was already pretty physically fatigued, I figured it would be good for training.
- It was really nice out, kids were at school and I wanted a run free Saturday and Sunday.
So I set out to have an adventure for the first 10 miles or so and finish up on the Saddle River Trail. I mapped out a cool run through Glen Rock, Ridgewood ect. including some new parks etc. and familiar places from my child hood. It was great but I forgot to write it down so when I ran off of the trail into Glen Rock I got lost. So I doubled back and ran into Ridgewood so I would know where I was, unfortunately it was uphill.
Once I got into Ridgewood I knew where I was and I set out to run around vets field where when I was a kid, my Dad played in a softball league and we would watch the 4th of July fire works, and had a near death experience involving a heavy public bathroom door that I could push but not pull open. (Side story- As a kid probably around 4 or 5 we were at one of my dad’s softball games and I insisted on going to the bathroom by myself. So I walked, what I now realize is about 50 yards, to the bathroom and pushed the door open. When I was ready to leave I could not pull the door open because it was too heavy. I did try to shoot it open because I was strapped with my two Cowboy style cap guns on my holster belt. 
That did not work so I just started to cry really loudly. Fortunately one of my parents friends Jim “Bakes” Bakelar was walking by and opened the door which I quickly ran out of. I’m 37 years old and the story is still told, and Jim Bakelar is still my hero, that is why I named my son James… Not really, just kidding)
Any way, a goal on this run was to run by my Grandparents old house in Ho-Ho-Kus.
(It did not look like that when we were there, this is the reboot)
It was cool to run around Ho-Ho-Kus since I spent a lot of time there as a kid, good memories and I even ran into my grandma’s old neighbor Willie and as was able to say hello! I think she remembered me but she could have just been being polite 😉
After a couple of wrong turns and detours I ran around the town, then back into Ridgewood, back through Vets field and headed towards the Saddle River Trail via E. Ridgewood Ave. I definitely did not pack enough water for the run and that was a bummer.
I hit the trail and felt great until about mile 14. That is where the fatigue usually starts to set in for me. I also started to realize that my right ear was on fire. Then I thought “uh-oh” I’m not wearing any sunblock. I attempted to use my Chapstick with SPF 12 on my ears and face so that helped a bit but needless to say I have a classic spotty burn on all of the uncovered areas. But I have never not met a milage goal on a run so I was determined to hit the 20!
Around mile 17 I was in the home stretch when I saw a guy walking two small dogs ahead. He thought it would be a good idea to have his dogs meet some other dogs so he lead them by these other two dogs. This meeting did not go well and he pulled his dogs away quickly, and subsequently into my direction. I have watched enough Dog Whisper to know when a dog is ready to throw down so as the Jack Russell was coming to take a chunk out of me, 17 miles in btw, I juked that devil dog like Zeke Mowatt!
I got some advice from a friend of Eileen’s who has run a few marathons and he said to tack on a couple of miles after 20 if you can so you are not surprised by “Hitting the Wall” as they say so as I approached 20 I felt like I could do it so I did! Oh…and I found the good ol’ wall. It was tough but I did get to 22miles. I did feel like I could keep going if I had to so that was encouraging. Looking forward to the next two week step down!
But the best advice I got was from my friend Cristina Bernotas (Philly Marathon finisher) who I was texting with just before I left for my run. She said “Good luck today, your going to kill it, Just keep going!” Which is a great motivator while your running but an even better one is laughter. Her encouragement made me laugh because it reminded me of this 80’s classic:
Which is actually just good advice for life really… 😉
Thanks all!
Word of the day: vitriol |ˈvitrēəl, -ˌôl| noun
1 cruel and bitter criticism: her mother’s sudden gush of fury and vitriol.
2 archaic or literary sulfuric acid.
ORIGIN late Middle English (denoting the sulfate of various metals): from Old French, or from medieval Latin vitriolum, from Latin vitrum ‘glass.’
Unicorn of the day: (provided by Mrs. Michael J. Fox Moulder Bowden)
Challenge:
find the second unicorn in this pic and not laugh…