And there was pain...

I had some doubts as to whether or not the 17 miler was going to happen. Exactly 8 days before the scheduled run, I came down with some crazy sinus/respiratory thing that would not let up. Stupidly, 3 days after I came down with it, I thought I was improving, so went out for a SHORT, EASY, 2-3 MILES just to "work out the kinks." Of course, it happened to be a beautiful, abnormally warm (70 degree) day, and 2 miles turned into 5. 5miles turned into a hacking cough, huge sinus headache, and inability to sleep due to cold medicine and plugged nose. As chaos theory would predict, this coincided with a crazier than usual work week. As some of you know, my work week is crammed into M-TH with Fridays off. I slept until NOON on Friday, then parked myself on the couch the rest of it.

Soooo, Saturday arrived, and we had to be at the run site by 7:45 am. Our coach gave me the "you are not running today after being sick all week." I did the "but, I'm feeling much better" whine. Another group member wasn't able to complete all 17 miles due to her knees, so we compromised, me saying that I would do only 15 with her. Not really sure how that would have been any better than 17, but I just wanted to get out there! So, they loaded us up in a van to drop us off a couple miles out where we would meet up with the group. Well, my friend had a "nature call?" so we ran around the DC mall looking for a bush, tree or open museum where we could sneak in and use the bathroom. After all that, we ran back to find our group, meeting them before our designated spot. All in all, we ran as much as anybody else, and now can publish a book titled "Where to find a toilet at 8:00 am in DC."

On to the painful part. In case you are even slower at understanding this than me, I will inform you that 17 miles is a looooooooooong way to run, and it was a cold (OK- North Dakotans and Minnesotans have permission to laugh here) 30 degrees with cloudy skies and wind. Once we ran through the city and got to the trail, it was more sheltered and pleasant. But, the trail is long, long, long, and I didn't think we were ever going to turn around. By the halfway point, my body was hurting. I realized that this was partially due to being sick all week, so I tried to keep quiet about it. The last three miles, however, everyone was hurting. I am not kidding - there was pain everywhere. Head, back, hips, quads, knees, calves, feet, toes. Then, all of a sudden, I felt a twinge that reminded me of the onset of cramps I experienced during the half marathon. I started guzzling the rest of my Gatorade mix in hopes that it would prevent the worst from happening. It seemed to work, or maybe it was the "almost done" mantra that kept going through my head. Either way, the entire group finished!!!! A big thank you to my group, because there is no way I would have finished without you.

Despite the painful ending, I actually recovered quite quickly. I tried a mango "recovery" drink from Cliff Shot, took some advil and tried to walk as much as possible. Today, I was able to enjoy a 3 mile run in DC's first snowfall of the year. Big, messy snowflakes that made everything look awesome. My Achilles tendon is still a bit sore, so I'm happy this next weekend will be a short 8 mile recovery run.

Thank you once again to everyone who has donated money, volunteer time, and cheer. My thank you's are a couple weeks behind, but will be in the mail this week... Only $500 to go!!!! Take care everyone and see you North Dakota folks in a few weeks.