Mel On...Putting the Tiger in the Cat

Today was the best - and the weirdest - run I've had in a long time...and it was EIGHTEEN MILES!

Last week's long run was a rough one.  I got through it but I didn't enjoy hardly any of it and was more than happy to stop once it was over...and it was only 16 miles.  I panicked when I realized that I will have to run 10.2 miles longer than that to finish this marathon. Then I panicked again once I saw the insane amount of money leave our account for plane tickets to get over there.  WHAT AM I DOING?!  How did I just commit that much money to go to an event that I don't even know if I can finish?  AAAAGGGHHHH!!!!

But then, today, it all fell back into place.  I CAN do this.  I WILL do this.  Today I took piece of advice from Bill Squires and "put the tiger in the cat."

That was my motto this morning.  My plan was to do 3 main loops (5 miles) around the village next to us and 1 small loop (3 miles) stopping at my car at each loop for a couple bites of banana, some Gatorade, and to stretch.  I was also going to run at "conversational pace," but seeing as how I was running by myself  I said screw that and ran at "sing-song pace" instead, and let me tell you, that is way more fun.  Especially when the first song on the playlist is "Roar" by Katy Perry - it was puurrrfect (like what I did there?).

"I've got the eye of a tiger, the fire, dancing through the fire, 'cause I am a champion, and you're gonna hear me roooaaarrr, louder, louder than a lion, 'cause I am a champion, and you're gonna hear me rooooaarrr!"

There is nothing better than belting out your favorite song in the middle of woods all by yourself.  Totally freeing.  There is no way you can't be happy doing it.  It is amazing. At one point I wasn't sure if I was running or dancing or doing some odd combination of the two.  But, thank goodness no one else was around to see it...I don't think it would be nearly as fun with an audience....

"You hear my voice, you hear that sound, like thunder, gonna shake the ground..."

Anyway, the run was going really great until the farmer let his geese out.  Yes...his geese.  Don't laugh, those heifers are MEAN.  They were honking at me and flapping about and such.  They even started running towards me at one point.  I started hollering "nein, nein!" but it didn't help.  They refused to let me pass the trail!  Finally, the farmer heard me yelling or them honking and came out to see what the commotion was.  He took one look at the little American girl screaming German to his geese and started laughing (dude, control your flock).  I guess it is kinda funny now, but not so much then.  He threw some feed or something and they started running back through the fence and I was able to get by.  Weirdest experience of my life.

   

Then about mile 12 I started getting a blister.  I walked about 1/2 a mile but that didn't bother me because I rocked the rest of the run.  I had my music, I was geese-free, I was happy.

Although, statistically, my run wasn't that great...I didn't keep pace like I "should have" or do a negative split.  But, I was smiling the whole dang way.  And, if I can keep a smile on my face and still be belting out my playlist at 18 miles, I will chalk that up as a good run any day!

33 days, 13 hours, 53 minutes, 34 seconds!