It was not pretty. It was not my strongest run, but I finished. Just over 10 miles my stomach started to destroy my spirit. I wanted to just quit and walk home. Instead, I decided to leave my running partners to find a bathroom. I forgot to restart my Garmin after I paused it to discuss getting back on route with my friend. I covered about .25 of a mile without logging it on my watch.
After the bathroom stop, I had about 4 miles left to go and decided to cover that ground without walking. I only walked once, when I was close to the top of a very steep hill. Shortly after that, one of my running partners turned onto the street in front of me. I was super encouraged that I had almost caught up. I followed her back to our starting point, and my Garmin was just showing 17.75, so I decided I had to keep going until it beeped and showed 18. So my 18 miler was really more of an 18.25, but I'm not going to call it that because it sounds like I'm so much prouder of myself than I am.
I am proud of myself, though. I'm very excited about this accomplishment. My longest run before that was 16 miles, and it was a great feeling after the 16th knowing that each step I took at that moment was one more step than I had taken before. Marathon training is grueling, but it is most certainly empowering. I am so thankful for all of my friends that keep me rooted in running and fitness and constantly support me with positive attitudes and honest advice.
The marathon is at the end of April, and I know now that I can do it. When I got close to finishing I felt horrible, but I knew I could keep pushing myself if I needed to. Which I will in Nashville, because a marathon is 8.2 miles farther than what I ran yesterday.
Thanks for sharing your story, Ashli! It helps me a lot to read things like this. I hope to someday cover 18 miles, myself...but until then, I'll be cheering you on from the sidelines!
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