1 Million Inches =15.78 Miles

And not a bit further!

Yesterday was the long anticipated FREE 1 Million Inch Run. A point to point run along the Interurban trail. My marathon training plan had me doing 13 miles but what's another 2.78 miles? I knew I could handle it, maybe not gracefully but I could do it!

Friday night I wanted to stay up and watch all the Olympic excitement going on but I went to bed instead. Friday it had been pouring buckets and I emailed the others who were crazy enough to participate in this run, Mel-Tall Mom, Zoe, and Kerrie..."are we REALLY going to run in this?" the reply from Zoe: "Embrace the Northwest." So SHE was going to run in this! =)

Thankfully Saturday morning there was not a deluge of water falling from the sky and it proved to be a good day to run.

Here we are, all smiles, before the race began: Zoe, Kerrie T., Mel, Me and some silly dude in the back.

ONE MILLION INCHES...

Well after we were done acting goofy and taking pictures it was time to head to the start. The organizer was talking about something, I wasn't listening. Typical. I was ready to run after a week off due to traveling back to the PNW and dealing with a sick Little Buddy. I was like a bull in the pen, ready to be released. Finally we mosied to the start point and I decided, at the last possible moment, that I should use the Porto potty. Apparently while I was gone the organizer announced that the Million Inch run was actually NOT one million inches rather it was more like 16.4 miles. Upon returning from the Porto potty there was NO mention of this to me. Thanks guys. They thought it best to keep my in the dark. They may have been right. =)

So the guy said go and we ran. I followed Mel and Zoe for a while. They were planning to do about 8:20/mi for the first 8 miles. That was a little faster than I should go so I lagged behind but kept them within eye shot for about 5 miles. My plan was to look at Coach Garmin (who needs a better name) about every mile or so. When I felt like I had gone a mile I was surprised it had actually been 2.83 miles! Whoa! The miles were flying by! My pace was fast but felt really comfortable. I kept going and was in my own little world. I do this, I check out and become oblivious to what is happening around me, I mean I see it, I recognize it but I don't THINK about it. It is like an out of body experience, very strange. The next time I looked at my watch I was approaching 4 miles and the first water station.

There were some streets to cross and I had to wait for what felt like forever at one street. It was shortly after that intersection that I started feeling a pain and I couldn't exactly locate the source. Was it my booty? A muscle? My hip? My IT Band? A cramp? My bone...it felt like a bone in my hip was grinding on a muscle. I kept going and tried to push the pain out of my mind but around mile 6 I felt like I might die. But I kept on going. I had to finish. It was point to point after all.

As the miles rolled by it became clear that I was not going to hit 13.1 miles in less than 2 hours. Bummer. I hit it around 2.03.78. Not too shabby for having 2.68 miles to go. I know I could have done better if only my hip wasn't broken. Also I didn't stop my watch at street crossings or when I stopped at the 11 mile water station. But I figure all together that may have been a minute or two.

After the 11 mile water stop it all went down hill. The trail became less clear and I kept my eye out for the bright orange painted arrows pointing me to the finish...oh the finish. I ran through a fun soccer complex where our local pro soccer team practices, then curved around to follow the Green River. This made me think of the Green River Serial killer. Creepy. Then it happened. I came to an intersection where I could go left, right or straight. There was not a bright orange arrow. There were no clues. It was like a game, which way to go. I looked straight. It lead to a straight-up hill and what seemed to be a neighborhood. Nah...not going there, right or wrong I didn't feel like tackling that hill. Left...that would have lead me back toward the starting point, it was about 14 miles away but still...not going back towards the start. That seemed wrong. Right... hmm....I waited for the light to cycle through 3 times! THREE TIMES! I am sure the people in the cars thought I was totally loony, lost, or worse. Finally through all of my deductive reasoning I chose to run right. Although I was thinking in my head, "right or wrong I am stopping at 15.78 miles. If I am lost and way off then oh well. They can come get me. Or I take a taxi to the start. What is the worst thing that can happen?" I was not really worried, just annoyed that I could be wrong. Then there was another intersection...what in the world! Two men on bikes came rolling by and I must have had this look of "what the heck now!?" because they told me to turn right (again)and mumbled something about matching socks. Ah...Mel and Zoe were wearing Valentine's Day tube socks like me! YAY!!! The men on bikes speak the truth! So I went right.

Thank goodness a group of men that had been behind me (about 4 miles ago) were now long in front of me and long gone because I had some sounds (due to the pain in my hip) coming out of my mouth that were inhumane. It scared me. Embarrassing. That lasted for about half am mile. I looked at my Garmin and was pretty pumped because I had never ran farther than 13.1 miles! With every step I hitting a new distance record! Cool! I couldn't stop. I had to keep going, I really didn't have a choice either way. So at the 15 mile mark I decided to totally ignore the pain. That didn't really work. I jogged backwards for a bit, just to see how that would feel. It worked a little bit. I thought about getting into the Guinness Book of World Records by running a marathon backwards. THAT would be fun. I thought about running into people and hitting pot holes. I decided to turn around. Finally my Garmin beeped: 15.78 miles. I stopped. There was not a soul in sight. Great (remember I had no idea it was actually 16.4). Oh well. I took out my cell and texted Mel something like, "15.78 done. No one in sight. I'm probably lost. Typical." That is when I found out it was further..."Keep going" she told me. I walked. My hip would not jog again. So I walked until I saw Mel and Zoe walking towards me. A welcomed sight!

Zoe snapped this picture of me as I was approaching them. too bad you cant see my tongue hanging out and the look of death on my face.

Me and Mel...she put a smile back on my face!

We got some water and began to walk back to meet Kerrie. She wasn't far behind!

In all it was a great time and I would do it again! I am hoping my hip feels better soon and I only need some recovery time. We will see what the next few days has in store.

Stats for the run:
15.78 Miles
2.35:49
9:52/mile pace
1899 Calories burned

I am pretty happy with that. I know I could have done better but I would rather my leg not fall off. Plus this was a training run. There will be many more.

Today I am grateful for:
Flowers from the Hubs! Awesome surprise to come home to after my long run! Not too shabby coming from the other side of the world either! Thanks babe!

A fun run with friends yesterday!
Ibuprofen.
I am officially released from the doctors care! YaY!! No more weekly trips to the hospital! I am officially healthy!

Happy Valentine's Day!