20 miler while on Vacation

           I was in Long Island, New York with my family, staying at my mom's for Thanksgiving. It was also my weekend for a 20-miler. in preparation for the Rehoboth Beach Marathon next week (and no, I no longer taper two weeks anymore, but that is another whole post). Now, after having done several marathons the 20-miler takes on a much less scary feel, yet, I was a little bit stressed about going to the Planet Fitness by my mom's, they inconveniently have their bathrooms downstairs, a whole flight away from the treadmills and time is always an issue if you are a mom runner, every minute counts. 

           I set the alarm for 3:30am Saturday morning and got up, made coffee, and just out of curiosity decided to make sure that the Planet Fitness I belong to was indeed a 24 hr gym, as it is near my home. Turns out it's NOT!!!!! So, I not only got up, lubes up, tapes myself up, got all dressed, etc but also my poor mom got up with me and was chatting with me, keeping me company, so I felt extra guilty having woken her up and now the gym is not open until, what....7am!? I entertained for a split second going back to bed, in the end, that IS what my body really wanted after all, but before that thought took root, I quickly asked Siri on my iPhone for a list of all the 24 hr. gyms in my area and this place Synergy in Baldwin, NY pops up. I called them and blurt out if I could possibly come in and just try out the gym. I was too tired to make up some story and frankly I always get better results being totally honest. The male voice on the other end of the line said, "sure, just come in now." I drive up and it does not have the feel of a big gym, I start to drive away but again, no, I realized this might just work. I park, go in, and a young friendly man neither asks questions or for an ID and lets me come in. I was happy surprised to see that the treadmills were not only RIGHT NEXT to the bathrooms bu they were facing outwards towards the people and my ass would be facing the wall.....just a thing I believe most woman think about....the Feng Shui was right. I ran for 5 hours, took a few bathroom breaks, took 1 salt pill every hour and had 1 tablespoon total of the peanut butter I brought to replace GU. I am sitting here writing a day later and I am so glad I got this done. At any moment that day I could have convinced myself that I'd do it later and easily quit and gone to bed. 

               My legs felt strong and fresh, my lungs breathed smoothly and easy and my heart felt just fine. I felt I could have easily run another 6  miles that day (had I had to that is). I know I am ready for this marathon next weekend. The run was so easy, in fact, that I think to prepare for my 50-miler in march I will run a 20 every Saturday and in addition,  one Sundays maybe begin running a few extra miles (very slowly), then of course my usual few small runs during the work week. Whatever this training plan will be, I know it's going to fit my body....I just need to work on the miles numbers a bit more. In the meantime, after my marathon next week I plan to run a 20 the next weekend as well. By then, I should already have my 3 month plan figured out. No matter what it's going to be the plan will include less running than most plans dictate. As an older runner, I know for a fact that I personally do a lot better on less miles than on excessive amounts in one week.

me after the 20!!! yes!!! did it.