Twenty Miler!!!!!! And Fundraising Party:

It is so nice to be writing after the 20 miler. What can you say about twenty miles? It was a training run I was looking forward to as much as fearing. :)
For charity runners, a moderate training program usually peaks with a run of this length, scheduled a few weeks before the marathon, followed by a taper.

We woke up to near perfect weather at 5 a.m., just a slight headwind of 5-7 miles with temps in the mid 30's and rising. Our team kicked off with a meeting at Wellesley and two moving dedications. Our great team organizers had buses drive us to the start line.

This was a day that most charities and many individuals scheduled their long runs, and the result, even though the roads weren't closed, was a marathon-like festive atmosphere. Support groups from each charity were manning water stops at at least 3 mile intervals, sometimes more, and did a great job of keeping runners hydrated and cheering them onwards. We knew that our Team would be at the 15 mile mark.

This was also the first day that we saw and wore our running singlets. It was a great feeling to put these on and be able to run as a dedication to the people on the backs of our singlets.

How does running 20 miles feel? Well, I have done this distance about 10 times now, and it is still hard to describe. I think it is kind of an adventure, mostly good. I don't think I've had a run where there hasn't been difficult patches, but I do think that the older I get, the more resourceful I am in dealing with problems. If I can think back to Saturday, I would say the progression was: nervous and excited, relaxed and excited, meditative and methodical, meditative and resolute. At about 15 miles, I definitely felt tired, and seeing our water stop across from the community center was a great source of strength. Wonderful Dave Tierney offered to take my jacket and hat, and I heard our coach Rick telling runners that the next section was basically downhill. This combination and knowing that we had people we knew at the finish line gave me the pep to carry through, and the last part went by quickly if not easily. Overall, I felt a bit more fatigued that I have in past long runs, but because my excellent running partner helped work me through the last miles and because I stayed focused, we ended up with a pretty good time, just 2 minutes over our goal. :)

The best part? Our friends Chris Lynn and Robert Roppolo were at the finish line! Both Chris and Bob had volunteered to drive tired runners from the finish back to the community center. Chris had decorated trees and signs and Bob gave Tim and I a ride back with two other girls from our team.

Well, the rest of the day was pretty much a wash. Stretching, sleeping, drinking and eating, with sleeping in between most of those activities. And Celebrating the fact that the taper was upon us. From now until race day, we will be cutting back mileage to rest up for the marathon!

Our fundraising party is tomorrow. Looks like things are in good shape and hope we have a great turnout! Will post following the event. Best,-M