20miler....RAIN OR SHINE!

THIS WAS OUR "THUNDER BLUE" TEK SHIRT! (it got named that due to the thunderstorm that occured during the run)
The 20miler in Elk Grove Village was this past Saturday. (9/18/2010) What an experience! Let me start at the beginning of the day......I was up and out of the house by 3:45am on Sat. I also had worked a Candy Drive/Fundraiser which was a cool thing to be a part of also on Fri. (However, being on my feet ... in flip flops (totally my own fault) the day before I have to do 20 miles...wasn't exactly my brighest idea) LOL! My legs were already swollen before even getting out to Busse Woods! Didn't matter though...I had miles to get in! So, back to 345am, left the house and arrived in Elk Grove by 5am. Yey...for once I was on time....better yet I was ahead of time. It was dark out there so I struggled finding exactly what grove I needed to be at .. but regardless figured it out by 5:15am. The plan was that the coach and I would meet there by 5:45, check in & then begin the event at 6am. It never fails though...something always holds us up. This day it was that the event wasn't ready to check people in on time plus they couldn't find my shirt. I waited around for a bit...but eventually it came down to I didn't care that they couldn't find it and I just wanted to begin bc I wanted to be able to finish in a timely manner before all the participants had crossed the finish line. Me not having my 20 miler shirt earned me the nickname "OAKBROOK" for the day...the reason being was bc I wore my Oak Brook Half Marathon Tek shirt that day instead. So, long story short...HA! we did't end up starting until nearly 6:30am., this put me already at a 30 min disadvantage mentally which I already knew would take a toll on me as I did my miles. I don't mean to sound like a brat...but it's hard to see one person after another pass ya while you're out there trying hard to keep moving and keep ahead the best ya can. Miles 1 thru 4...went by quickly...after that ... oh boy..the miles seemed spread so far apart. I would have loved to of measured them out myself bc there is no possible way that the markers were only a mile apart at times. The temperature was much different then I had been used to also. I consumed just as much fluids as I normally would have...except this time...I had to use the washroom at least twice before finishing the 1st 10 miles. Normally, I would maybe use the washroom once while out there for 18 miles. I just wasn't swetting it out like I normally would be. Again, I saw person after person pass me...the people all being supportive like they have been all along! Runners are super friendly athletes! Some of the runners out there remembered seeing me at Oakbrook as well as saw my Oakbrook shirt on and I heard numerous times....."Keep up the good work OAKBROOK!" So I finally passed the 10 mile marker and kept telling myself I could do this...even though I knew I had wanted to quit already! I really did! By this point....every single participant in the event had passed me...I was the last one in the line...that sucked and it definetly was not encouraging for me! (To the point that I ripped off my Bib bc I didn't want to be associated w being apart of it any longer. I really just wanted to quit...I was about to call my aunt and tell her...I don't want to do this..I already knew exactly what she'd say though...she'd say that I could do it...I've already nearly done it and have worked hard each week but, if I really didn't feel like doing it that I could just quit! I didn't want to feel that I couldn't do it though...I just wanted to be done now. And then ...... it began to rain.....correction it began to down pour...and there was lightning & thunder! It was pretty scary to be in those woods at that point! I saw many people turn around and say no way were they finishing! It didn't make me feel much better about being the last one out there .... but I was happy I kept on trucking along. Bc runner after runner that passed me on their way back while I headed out 5 more miles before the turn around for the remaining 5, would say to me..."Great Job!, that's the way to be!, you can finish! etc, etc, there was so much support from them that you could see that they couldn't believe that I hadn't turned around and gave up with the way it was raining and storming out there. Either way I knew that I would be stuck out there so I just had to make the best of it! Oh....real quick too...one gal that was running passed me on her way back said to me...."Great Job Momma!" needless to say...I do have a BIG BELLY so I could see the confusion plus with the downpour my white tek shirt was now like a horrible spandex shirt that was stuck to my belly :( It wasn't very attractive look I had going! I just laughed the comment off and obviously felt the need to share with ppl that this gal thought I was a momma out there running that day. :) LOL! Ah well! Afterall, that's why i'm out there wk after wk....trying to lose the belly! So, it rained from mile 10 to about 14 while I was out there...the whole time from mile 10 on... I kept telling myself that it was only 5 miles out & 5 miles back....ONLY 5 MILES OUT & 5 MILE BACK! Why was it so hard for me....afterall I had done 10 miles before...these last 10 shouldn't have been such a big deal...well I was dealing w/the self pitty & wanting to quit, the rain soaked me...so now I was uncomfortable,my shoes felt like they each had gained 5 lbs worth of water in them, oh....and then there was the lovely blister I got after my shoes got soaked....a beautiful blood blister that was easily the size of my ipod nano (5th generation for the visual folk). I finally saw the coach again at mile 14.5 and she expressed how proud she was that I kept going. "How could I not...I knew she was out there...and uhhhhhh thought for sure she'd kick my butt...if I didn't keep going!!!LOL...j/k...I really just wanted to do it...I had to know for myself that I could do the 20 miles! Afterall, the Marathon was only weeks away at this point! AHHHHHHH! So, finally on the trek back ... I do believe around mile 17 I started feeling just super drowsy! It sucked...all I really wanted to do at this point was to lay down on the side of the trail and take a nap. (heck I only needed a short one & then I could keep going!) lol! Well, that wasn't option...I had to get back to my car! The coach came and met me at mile 19 (since she knew I was still out there) and walked the last mile with me. I finally was so glad to be back and I did earn my hot dog and banana that they were giving out at the end of the run. I finally got into my car and began driving home and the feeling of that nap kept coming back as I was trying to drive home. I knew I couldn't make the drive home, my cell was ruined from the rain storm so I couldn't call anyone to come meet me so the only thing I could do was find a safe place to pull over and rest my eyes. I finally found a spot that I felt safe at and rested for 45 mins. That felt wonderful, when I woke I finally made the rest of the drive home....and arrived safely! :) WHAT A DAY! ! !