Blow My Socks Off

I had been stressed all week. I definitely let this 20 mile run get the best of me. It consumed my thoughts, and many other normal tasks throughout the week seemed overwhelming because I had this overwhelming run waiting before me. I had talked to a few people during the week, and I had explained to them that I knew I was being ridiculous. I knew that worrying was a waste of my time and my energy. I knew that the run was going to happen whether I worried about it or not. I knew that I would fail OR succeed in the run whether I worried about it or not. Worrying is non-productive. But try telling THAT to a novice marathon runner when they are about to run 20 miles for the first time! Every single one of us in our running "team" was anxious about this run.

I set myself up for success though. Even though it was Rick's weekend off, I had asked my mom to watch the kids for us. When Rick watches the kids for my runs, I am kind of at his mercy. He needs his sleep, and so I wait for him to wake-up before I take off. I did not want to do that for the 20 mile run. It would take many hours to get through this distance, and I wanted to get an early start! So with the kids at my mom's house, Rick and I took advantage of the opportunity, and he "helped" me carb load at Anthony's Fish Grotto for dinner. After that, we caught an early showing of "Soul Surfer". I had heard that it was an incredibly inspiring movie, and I was desperate for some inspiration. The movie was great (borderline-after-school-special) and it gave me everything that I was requiring of it! We went to bed (insert immature giggle), and I was asleep before 9:30pm...record time for me these days!

My goal was to be running at 6am, and since I chose to run down at the Embarcadero, I needed to be up at 5am. I had no problem getting up that early...in fact, my nerves had me awake (but not out of bed) at around 4am. Despite waking up that early, and despite Satan being a PUNK and giving me one of those horrendous pregnancy-cramps-in-my-calf-even-though-I-am-not-pregnant out of the blue in the middle of the night, I actually slept soundly. I felt well rested.

I got up, got dressed, ate a nutri-grain bar, grabbed the rest of my stuff that I had laid out the night before, and then I was out the door. I made my way down to the convention center, and just as I had expected, parking was going to be lame. With metered parking only lasting 2 hours, I had to pay $10 to park in a lot. Waaaa!

But you would have been proud...I had my ipod, my headphones, my snot rag, my fuel belt, my phone, my pepper spray, my chapstick, my car key clipped to my fuel belt, my GU packs...I had remembered it ALL! :0)

After talking to both of my girls (Katie & Jenni) one last time before I took off, I took a deep breath, and prayed the simplest of prayers..."Dear Lord, Blow my socks off." I needed to be surprised by the ease of running 20 miles.

I started at 6:06am, and my goal was to finish in 4 hours. This was another "out and back" run. I was going to travel 10 miles, and then turn around in my tracks, and take the exact route back 10 miles to my van.

My starting line...



I ran from the convention center to Sea Port Village, passed all of the cruise ships, the star of India, and the midway ship. I passed by all of the artistic pieces along the Embarcadero...that's always my favorite part about this area...and they had all been switched out since the last time I had been down there. My 2 favorite "statues"...for lack of a better word...were:

1. A HUGE hand that was holding a fish in it's palm using only 3 fingers to hold it...the pinky finger, the ring finger, and the thumb. Which left the index finger and the middle finger left up in the air...forming a "peace sign." The name of the artistic piece was, "Ask the fish." I loooooved that! So funny! (Except if you are the fish, lol)

2. There was this GIGANTIC bright yellow bird cage, and up and out of this bird cage was an even LARGER tree bursting through the cage. The title of this art was, "Liberation." It was an extremely motivating piece for me in that moment. I know for me personally I tell myself all the time that I can't do something...that I'm not capable of achieving certain goals. And yet here in my sight was the physical representation of something reaching far beyond the cages of our doubt. Freedom from self. "Liberation."

After passing by the Embarcadero, I ran to and through Harbor Island. I thought I had never been to this stretch of land, until I gazed upon...



Our great friends Josh & Rachel were married in this area, and then we celebrated at a reception in this restaurant. Seeing that sign brought back so many wonderful memories of that day. I'm sure Rachel wishes that we would remember other aspects from that day, lol, but I will never forget that after the bride and groom took communion before all of their guests, Rachel turned her body, and her gorgeous gown knocked over the glass of red wine and it spilled all down the front of her white dress. The best part about that moment was how cool Rachel was about it! I would assume that most brides would freak out, or would be destroyed. But Rachel just glanced at the dress, looked at everyone in the crowd, and then shrugged as if to say, "Whatcha gonna do!?" I will never forget that.

I exited out of Harbor Island, and then ran passed the airport...



After completing that stretch, I ran to and through Spanish Landing.



I have never been there before, and I would normally think that it's not that big of a deal, however, there was a MAJOR event going on at the time. They were setting up for the "Pineapple Classic"...it's a 5K race. I was SO impressed by this race! Not only was there a 5K (3.1 miles) run, but there were all of these super theme-related-creative obstacle course things to complete...bowling with a watermelon to knock over real pineapples, climbing up a rope ladder, going under this LOW canopy crawling on your belly, and much much more. I just kept thinking how much I wish I was participating in that race, and that I truly hope to do it next year. So much fun.

Next on the course was to make my way through a small part of Point Loma, and all of the way to Shelter Island. Again, I thought I had never been to Shelter Island before, but that is until I ran past the hotel/concert venue, Humphrey's. Another one of my favorite couples, Brooke & David, were married at this location, and we celebrated together there. It was a beautiful wedding. I can remember all of the beautiful candle light they had everywhere...GORGEOUS!

Shelter Island seemed to go on forever, and then finally I reached the end...the 10 mile marker...The Friendship Bell...



I took a mental check-up and realized I was good-to-go. Not too tired, not too sore. I had been listening to some Christian tunes ("WOW 2007") on the first leg of the run, but I decided to switch things up a this point, and get going to Shania Twain's "UP"...great choice. :0)

I knew I was only halfway done, and I knew as the mileage kept piling on that the run was going to get harder, that my body was going to get tired. Occasionally fear and doubt would creep in, and I continued to pray my "Blow my socks off" prayer. Since it was such a short prayer, it almost became like a chant. "Blow.my.socks.off.blow.my.socks.off." After saying it 100+ times, it begins to sound stupid. I started to over analyze the term...and then I started to imagine the act of God literally blowing my socks off. I'm sure I was growing delusional, HAHAHAHA!

Anyway, I kept on running...running along side the water...



I ran back through Spanish Landing (the Pineapple Classic 5K was completely underway at this point), ran back through Harbor Island, ran past all of the art work on the Embarcadero, ran past the massive ships, and then I came to...



The night before we dined at this restaurant, but at the La Mesa location. We had gone there for dinner for no other reason than the fact that we had a gift card to that restaurant from my birthday. Stupidly, I hadn't thought anything about it. But as I ran passed this restaurant on the Embarcadero, it brought back a flood of memories from my own wedding day. Rick and I had surprised our families and had eloped on a Saturday morning. My mom refused to let the day go by without a family gathering, and so later that night, my family gathered at this location and celebrated this occasion with us. I can remember all of the excitement (and craziness) of that day. 30-year-old-marathon-running-me was looking in at the young-newly-married-me sitting at the table, and I just wanted to SHOUT to her that life wouldn't always feel so chaotic...9 years from now you are still in love with your husband...9 years from now you will have 2 beautiful and healthy children...9 years from now your family will still be the best thing on Earth...9 years from now you will have an amazing relationship with Jesus Christ that somehow even topped the connection you had with Him in High School...9 years from now you will have confidence in your present, and you will continue to have hope for your future...9 years from now your world is lovely.

I kept running.

I had been feeling strong the whole run, but in the final 2 miles things started to ache a little bit. My right knee was barking a bit, and my lower right side of my back was letting me know I had traveled 18 miles. I asked myself if I needed to cry...and I said no, lol. I just kept one foot in front of the other. My normal peeps, and even a few unexpected peeps had been texting me and facebooking me throughout the run, cheering me on, and letting me know they had prayed for me. I was greatly encouraged.

The 2 miles had passed, I reached my van, and with no fuss or commotion it was over. There were no tears even at the end...just a great sense of accomplishment. The longest run was over. There was nothing left to stress about.

I had beaten my goal by 4 minutes. I ran the 20 miles in 3 hours and 56 minutes. If I hadn't let my nerves get the best of me, then I probably wouldn't have had to stop EIGHT times(!!!) to use the restroom, and who knows what my time would have really been!? Worrying is not only non-productive, but it is also counter-productive, LOL! But again, I'm not stressing that the hotel restrooms were my B.F.F. during this run. It's just life.

Things go backwards in the training now. :0) We have 3 weeks until the marathon, and during the next 3 weeks our bodies will recover from this 20 mile run, and strengthen for the marathon...26.2 miles. My next "long" run, this Saturday, is only 12 miles and I am beyond stoked that I get to run it through Forsyth Park in Savannah, GA! :0)



Exactly 19 days until I run a marathon!!! (I think I need to use the restroom!)