It’s done! It’s in the can! My first “official” twenty-miler is on the books and completed! 
It took me just a minute over three hours to complete, reaffirming what last week’s run told me: I can do this entire marathon in under four hours, God willing! I won’t beat myself up if I exceed it by a few minutes, but…I can do it! It’s more than a possibility! Truth be told, if I had brought extra fuel/gels (and a burning desire to court injury), I think I could have completed the full distance within that additional hour today! I’m feeling so psyched now for the race.
My iPod froze up near the beginning of the run, unfortunately, and I couldn’t remember how to reset it. I didn’t want to call and wake up Eric so early, so I ran without it in the darkness. While there’s much to be said for the distraction of music or a podcast during extremely long runs, there’s also much to be said for just experiencing the world around you, even (especially) before much of it is awake. I wasn’t always able to do that; as a new runner, I needed to not focus on my huffing and puffing so much, and music kept me from feeling as though I was about to hyperventilate at any moment. It also kept me on pace (hello, long-time marching band geek!) when I needed that extra assistance. Now, though, I can run without anything in my ears…and it’s a whole new world.
In the darkness, everything else seems more dramatic. I ran by Lake Michigan, and a flock of ducks erupted from the water beside me, quacking in surprise. I heard the first tentative twitters of the earliest waking birds: spring is coming, and with it comes the return of morning songs. Without distraction, I was able to focus on the sun, slowly rising from beyond the horizon of the lake, staining the waters peach, white, and pale blue. The moon was still in sharp contrast to the dark sky above the brightening water, and even if I’d had my camera with me (no cell camera could hope to suffice), it wouldn’t have done justice to the excitement of the sphere over my head.
I smelled aromas: fresh pastries and bread arriving at a convenience store, a not unpleasant whiff of cigar from a nearby porch, the smell of fresh earth finally emerging from under the layers of winter. I felt the ground sloping under my feet, and I was never taken by surprise by any rises or dips, as I sometimes am when I’m deep into my headphones. My mind roamed from topic to topic, and, as is pretty typical for me, that often took the form of running through its own mental playlist, chanting whatever songs happened to relate to my feelings at any moment. Put one foot in front of the other, and soon you’ll be walking ‘cross the floor!…
Around ninety minutes into the run, I did call Eric and get the instructions to reset the iPod, so I had some extra distraction for the second half of the run, when I probably would have noticed my exhaustion more and more. On marathon day, I may bring the iPod (headphones are explicitly allowed in this race), but I’m less likely to need it; there is to be enough course entertainment that I think I’ll have all the distraction I need without shutting myself off from the world around me. But I love having options like this! I’m rather glad for today’s “technical issue,” after all.
Do you guys usually run with headphones? I know some folks consider them to be a safety hazard, while others (like me, obviously) work to minimize the risk by keeping them turned down very low or using only one earbud.
Whoo hoo! You are going to dominate your marathon!
I like to listen to music but I’ve learned to really love long runs without headphones because the running groups I’ve been with ask us not to wear them for safety reasons. Like you, I listen to my music on a low volume so I can still hear around me, so I feel like I’m a little safer.
Woohoo! It sounds like an awesome run! I prefer wearing my ipod, just not in the dark. But I’m a chicken.
Can I ask what running shoes you were wearing when you were heavier? I’m starting to run again after breaking my foot and I’ve got quite a few lbs to lose. I tried a pair of Brooks Beast for men, but I felt like they gave me no cushion at all. My shins and knees were killing me after a run with them. My current shoes are Etonic motion control, but they are on their last few miles. I have size 10 D in women’s styles so my selection is limited.
Congrats! You’re my fitness hero. So, I have a question. When you say that you ran 20 miles in 3 hours, when you run is it like, fast fast fast as you can the whole time? Or do you take a few “jogging breathers” ? I’ve always wondered.
I believe I started in New Balances (I can’t remember which model), but you really need to be fitted by professionals at a real running store, who will watch you run and analyze your specific needs. I severely overpronate, so my needs may be different from yours.
Sarah, your pace is usually dictated by how far you’re going. For the twenty, I stayed just over a nine-minute mile, which is a lot slower than I’d run, say, a 5K. You want to go out at a pace you can maintain for most of the run.
I swear, what you described is exactly what I miss about your neck of the woods. Believe me, I could see, hear, taste and smell everything you just described, to a tee. And my heart ached visualizing that Lake Michigan sunrise. Truly nothing like it in the world.
Glad your training is going well. As to your question — I love running with headphones and iPod but only in daylight on a populated path, or on a treadmill (hello, boredom!) Also, most of the races I do expressly forbid headphones — in a tri they are absolutely verboten on the bike and you can (and will) get DQ’d on the run.
Besides, anyone should be able to get through a 5K without headphones…it’s not *that* long…
Good on ya love.
Holy carp, woman!
Ever thought about running Boston?
Hi Carrie,
Long time reader with a request. When you can, will you update your weight loss story? I am just starting my journey and would love to hear the rest of yours. Thanks!
Oops – you’ve already done that!
You are such an inspiration! After reading about C25K here (and a couple of other places), I decided to try it out…despite having very firmly fixed it in my head decades ago that “I am not an athlete.” I finished C25K a week and a half ago and today ran (in my neighborhood) 3.1 miles in 34 minutes! Woohoo! I have been running with an ipod for a couple of weeks now, as the 5K I’m running next week (my first!) says no headphones…but when I am wearing one, I do the one-earbud thing and I only run during daylight hours anyway.
So here are a couple of questions for you- 1) When did you first feel like you were a “runner” and not a wanna-be? I still feel like I have to say “I’m training, but it’s ONLY a 5k.” But really, I want to say “5K? Me? Holy crap, that’s awesome!” And, 2) How the heck did you get so fast?! I remember your early runs were 12 minute miles or so. I’ve pushed it to an 11-11.5 minute mile and that is FAST for me…that you’re running 20 MILES in only 180 MINUTES just blows my mind!
Emily, it took a while, and I made at least one person roll her eyes at me when I’d say things at races like, “These other people look like ‘real’ runners!” “You are a ‘real’ runner, Carrie!” But I didn’t buy it until maybe my first 8k, in February (8 months or so in?); wasn’t the distance so much as looking around at the weather and the ice and realizing that not doing it wasn’t ever in question.
My speed didn’t start improving until my endurance really improved. After I’d been running an hour several times a week for a bit, the pace started to drop on its own with no real additional effort on my part!
Thanks Carrie! I’ve been a little worried about running with the “real runners” at the race on Sunday, but at least I know I’ll make it the whole way!
(Oh, and that should have said “running withOUT my ipod” for the last couple of weeks, not with)