Sea World to La Jolla & Back!!!

I did it!!!

I ran from Sea World to La Jolla and back!!!

I ran 12 miles!!!

So, yes. I am just a little excited here. I don't think what I have accomplished today has truly sunk in yet. The enormity of it just overwhelms me. Not only did I run from Sea World to La Jolla and back, but I did it in 8/1 sets!! (8min running /1 minute walking) I am soooo stoked!

I don't know why but last night the number 12 just suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks. I had trouble sleeping because I was so nervous. (Ethan didn't help any either- as usual.) Then as I drove to the session today I was total bundle of tense nerves at the thought of what I was about to attempt. Never mind that this was less than half the length of the marathon. THIS WAS 12 MILES!!! How could I possibly run that far??? It just didn't seem possible.

Shortly after starting the run two things occured. First, I developed an immediate cramp in my right side. Great. Then, someone mentioned how much hotter it was than during previous sessions and I realized I'd forgotten to actually put on the sunscreen sitting in my car. Too late. Had to keep going.

I managed to stay with my regular group until just before the aid station at the turn around point and by then the cramp in my side had disappeared. But I swear someone replaced my legs with sandbags at that stop! Boy was it hard to get moving again after just a 1 minute break! It's amazing how quickly muscles can tighten up on you!

So at that point I did fall about 500yds behind the people I can usually keep up with. At first I was resigned to running alone, but then someone caught with me (or did I catch up with them??) and we ended up finishing the second half together. We got to talking and it really is true that when you're talking time goes faster! There were a couple of times when we actually ran 30seconds to a minute longer than we were supposed to.

So I was doing pretty good until I ran out of gatorade about 1 1/2miles away from the end. By about 3/4 miles from the end I started to feel nauseas. So at that point I did break the 8/1 set and take extra walking time. My partner was also feeling ill, however, so she stopped to walk with me. We walked for about two minutes, started to feel better, and got back into completing the 8/1 set.

The second we got back to the meeting point I made a beeline for the Large thermoses of gaterade and water. I also snagged myself a bagel. After some cool down walking, food, and drink, I really started to feel better, but WOW was I tired. So I did the smart thing and took time to relax and stretch fully before driving anywhere.

I had to feed Ethan when I got home, but then I took a nice long hot shower with our massaging shower head. I have never appreciated it so much! When I got out I got our electric handheld massager and ran it over my legs and back just to get most of the kinks out. By the time I was done, I felt MUCH better.

My only lingering aches are in my knees. Unfortunately it making it VERY difficult to walk, step over things, attempt stairs, even stand for any period of time. They are very stiff. It's as if they're informing me that I have exceeded my quota of movement for that 24hr period and they are now out of order. ;-D I'm hoping they'll be better after a good night's sleep. If not, does anyone know where I can rent a walker???

You have no idea how strange that run was for me. Aside from the length, the location made it that much more bizarre. As a nanny for the twins, I took Lindsey and Nicole to Sea World regularly. And when they were old enough, I took them to a school in La Jolla. Well, while running today I realized something. ..... I had run PAST where I used to drop them off for school!!! I couldn't believe I was recognizing the landmarks I'd used to DRIVE past so regularly! How in the world did I run that far???

This run has been so significant for me, I intend to post the map for it in my next post so that you can see for yourself how long it was.