15 down, 11.2 miles to go

Monday morning the alarm on my cell phone sounded at 6:30 a.m. I grabbed my phone, hit the snooze button and hid the phone under my pillow. Five minutes later the high pitched beeping traveled through my pillow and straight into my ear, so I hit the snooze button again and again and again for the next hour and a half.

I had every intention of getting up early to embark on my longest run to date — 15 miles. But I decided sometime during my battle with the alarm clock that 9 a.m. was still relatively early.

Once I was up I began my "long run routine." In preparing myself for a long run, there are certain things I have to do to feel physically and mentally ready such as hydrating, stretching, making sure my running clothes fit right and eating cold pizza!

Many marathon runners I've spoke to have their "magic" food or drink. One runner I talked to drank flat pop before a race. My magic food is cold pizza. It just makes me feel energized for the journey ahead.

So I ate my cold pizza, laced up my running shoes, put on my camel back, turned on my iPod, popped some gum in my mouth and ran.

The weather was perfect for most of the run — overcast with a light breeze. The first seven miles "raced" by as I jammed out to Santana, Dave Matthew's Band, Pinback and other random artists on my iPod.

By mile No. 7 the sun started peeking through the clouds. By mile No. 8 I remembered why I had planned to get up so early as the blazing sun followed my every step.

Mile 10 came along and I felt my blood sugar dip, so I popped a piece of hard candy in my mouth and keep truckin’ along.
A few times during the last five miles I seriously had to convince myself to keep going. I kept thinking how nice it would be to walk the rest of the way.

But if I couldn’t do this, I thought, I wouldn’t be able to do the marathon.

So, I finished my 15 miles in surprisingly good shape. I wasn’t near as sore as I was when I ran 11 miles.

However, when I looked down at my legs I noticed a nice, distinctive runner’s tan from my shorts. I will need to run earlier in the morning to avoid looking like a brown rainbow.

After the run I had so much energy. I took a shower, went tanning, cleaned my house and ran some errands. Yet, when 3 p.m. came I decided to relax on my bed and take a small break. After that I was out for the count for most of the evening.