"You Just Might Surprise Yourself"

This run was totally different than the last long one. Infinitely better. Glorious, completely delightful. I never got into a suffering zone at all. All credit goes to Amena and Rauf, my great friends who started out there with me in the cold deep dark at 5:30am. Rauf went to Fullerton and Amena smashed it all the way to Roosevelt or more for her 21. IN-spirations. They are strong, laid back, fun and happy. Perfect influences. They even shared their gel shots and power-jelly beans with me. I will never forget this generous companionship when I needed it most. My run was 17. Possibly slightly more.

I simply got to Balbo and then turned my ass around. It was almost 'easy'? I checked myself (before I wrecked myself) that my miles were still around 12 min. Ran into 2 races--one for blood and one for dogs. The dog one also had a doggie parade when I was just about home which was adorable. What I did better than last time: worked on gratitude/attitude all week, new bra, hydrated a lot more carefully yesterday, watched a Shalane Flanagan doc over and over, hot bath yesterday, re-reading all my running books (someone in Born to Run starts doing 'chop steps' when the going gets tough. I tried it.). A good long talk on the train with Tim about running/racing also gave me great motivation and specific advice. One more thing--when I bought my new shoes at Fleet Feet yesterday, I told the nice saleswoman/runner, Kristin, that I was scared about the marathon because I'm 'older.' She said "You just might surprise yourself. A lot of women are hitting their running peak later in life." It was one of the most generous things she could have said to me. Maybe I'm actually learning things and getting better. Maybe my body and mind aren't conspiring against me. I won't get too cocky, though. A few more of these left and they can't all be sunshine and flowers. Amena's cool with me jumping in for a mile or two with her for Chicago in 2 weeks, which would be amazing. This happy run convinced me this whole idea isn't preposterous at all.