So today I had my first 20 mile run planned.  I had been looking forward to this run all week.

Unfortunately, the world had other plans.

I was all suited up and ready to go!  Jade and Rocket are wondering if they’re coming.

I decided to run to work and back twice since it’s 5 miles each way.  I had been checking the weather all morning and it looked like we would be alright for a while, so I headed out the door.  Before I even got down our driveway, it started to rain.  A couple feet down the road I noticed that it wasn’t raining, it was HAILING.  That’s right, HAIL.

Right then I knew this would either be an excellent run where I overcame all sorts of adversity, or it would just suck.  Turns out it was kind of both.

Things I got over on this run:

  • Adverse weather – Hail to start, and then it ended up raining off and on through the whole run.
  • Hills!
  • Running on busy 55mph roads
  • Running decently far from home

Once I got to work I felt good and decided to change it to just a straight “out and back” run.  So I continued around town for another 5 miles.  At 10 miles I turned around and took the same route back.

Everything was fine and I was feeling good until mile 12.  When I have IT band issues it’s always in my right knee.  When my left knee hurts, it’s always more “runners knee”-ish.  And today my left knee started acting up like something awful.

I managed to hobble another 4.2 miles, and at mile 16.2, I ended up calling my husband in tears because I needed him to come pick me up.  I really wanted to keep going, but I was 3.8 miles from home and I knew there was no way I was going to make it all the way back.  I cried all the way home because I was so mad at myself for not being able to finish.  When I got home I went straight to the basement and did another 1.3 miles on the treadmill, but once I hit 17.5 I knew there was no way I was going to make it to 20 miles.

The most frustrating part is that as soon as I stopped, my knees felt fine.  It was just when I was running.  I think I just need to replace my shoes.  You’re supposed to replace your running shoes every 300-500 miles, and these have 300+ miles on them.  Hopefully that will take care of the problem.

So here it is…  My valiant effort…

I still have two more 20+ mile runs before my full, so I should be okay.

This coming weekend is my first competitive half marathon!  It should be lots of fun!