A mini marathon for me

I’m seriously in pain. I wanted to help support B. in preparing for the upcoming Boston Marathon. He was supposed to run 20+ miles today, and I thought he’d get bored doing the same run he does all the time in our neighborhood. I suggested we drive to the Snoqualmie Valley and take a trail that runs through rural farmland. The Snoqualmie Valley Trail follows an abandoned railroad line with scenic views of the Cascades and streams along the way. It's known for the fact that it crosses several bridges and trestles. I found the trail on the King County Trail Map we got last weekend.

We both ran in the same direction, but B. took off ahead of me. I thought I’d see him around the third mile, as he was going to run five miles in one direction, turn around, stop back at the car to have some water and an energy bar, run five miles on the trail in the other direction, and then turn around and come back for a total of 20 miles. Needless to say, he’s a lot faster than me. :)

My plan was to do a short run (30-45 min.) and then hang out and get some reading done. By mile four, I started to wonder where he was. Plus, there were a couple of strange looking people on the trail. I finally met B. at close to mile five and should have turned around then, but I was so close to running five miles that I wanted to keep going . (Usually, I run around three miles).

When B. and I went to the bike expo over the weekend, we tried out these amazing scales from Tanita that calculated not just your weight but your body mass index, level of hydration, bone mass, muscle mass, and metabolic age. I found out that I was dehydrated and had a metabolic age of someone much older than I am! According to the makers of the scale: "If your Basal Metabolic Age is higher than your actual age, it is an indication that you need to improve your metabolic rate. Increased exercise will build healthy muscle tissue, which will improve your metabolic age."

So, I was determined to run five miles. And I did. I had also run about .6 of a mile before I started my Nike+iPod device. I was going to walk the rest of the way back to the car where we had planned to meet at around 2:00. But then I thought about the time. If I walked back, B. would likely get there at least 30-40 minutes before me and did not have a key. I knew he would be really cold, because of the time and amount he had exerted himself.

So, I walked for a little bit and ran the rest of the way back (around 3 miles). By the time I started running, I was getting blisters and felt nauseous from the amount I had already done. I made it back to the car before B., but arrived feeling horrible. After eating some greasy diner food, taking a hot bath, and then taking a short nap, I still feel worn out.

I’m very proud of what I did. It’s the most I’ve run at any single time. Though it may not be impressive to many, it was a big feat for me. Now I know I can push myself, but will plan better next time and ease into doing another long run.

Distance: ~11 miles (8 mile run, 3 mile walk)
Time: 2.70 hours
Total Calories: 1193