8 Mile Road

Well well...so my 20 miler started on Saturday morning at precisely 6am. Ryan was equipped with biker shorts (under his baggy shorts) and a full water bottle. I was weighted down with my three goos (which stands for ooz and are repulsive). Ryan mapped out our route on Thursday, and we drove it Friday. Parts of it were gated off, so we didn't get to literally see the whole course. It started off in a nice residential neighborhood, then we headed into farm land, wrapped around water, and returned on the same road we started on. There were acres and acres of corn on one side and tomatoes on the other. We headed straight out until the road forked at this marina and then we ran on the path which was right next to the waterway. It was really cool, beautiful and literally cool. It was abstolutely ideal running weather.

We noticed this time as we encountered the first fence that it had a no trespassing sign. We still hopped the fence. Why didn't we think about this last night, who knows. We continued on, past this scary home with gnarly dogs...where I picked up my pace even though I didn't feel like it, just to escape the scariness. Then we encountered another fence, this one looked electric. Ryan tested it out and it was cool, so we hopped it, lliterally. Then I noticed the ground I was running on was covered in sheep poo!! GROSS!! We continued trekking. Another electric fence, same as before and we jumped it. ANOTHER electric fence, and we jumped the non active electirc gate. Then a farm guy drove up to us and said, "This is private property and you really shouldn't be out here". Ryan handled it and the guy was really cool. I was getting a little bratty at this point. It was about the 13 mile mark. Ryan was very helpful with the water bottle and trying to keep my spirits up, which usually meant pure silence. We finally finished running by the water and headed back on 8 Mile Road, what we started out on. Sometimes the out and pack situations are helpful, but this wasn't. I couldn't see very much in the distance and it all just looked so far ahead. Ryan continued to remind me, only 40 minutes left. We somehow made it in a little under 3. I was so happy to have completed that one!

Once we returned to the apartment, I started to not feel very good and Ryan had stepped into the bathroom. My eyes started getting cloudy and it felt all dark and everything sounded hollow. I thought I was going down. I hollered to Ryan that I wasn't feeling very good...at ALL and he raced in with a towel and shoved a lemonade at me. I sat down, drank, and was brought back to life. :) It really wasn't that dramatic, but it was very odd. I hadn't felt that way after running before. I must have just had a really low blood sugar level.

That was my big 20 miler! So glad the next time we're running in the 2X's, will be in CHICAGO and I'll be with you two!!! :)

Oh-funny side note, I had a tan line on each arm where my arms creased from being at a 90 degree angle for so long. Sad. Not too noticeable though. :)