September 13, 2008

It was a rainy day for a long run. I was sorta hoping that it would be called off, I wanted to be inside on an elliptical. But I guess I was ready to hit the road, because God kept the lightning at bay. I had four of my regular runners show up, and one who usually runs on Sundays. The rain wasn't awful for most of it. There were some bursts of major down pour.

Crystal, Jill and Colleen turned back at mile 5. I stopped to check on them and it's a good thing that I did because Danielle (from the 11:00 intermediate) caught us. The two of us caught up to Melissa and Lois with in a mile. Then Melissa and Danielle turned around at mile 6 and Lois and I ran to 8.5 at the turn around. My Garmin was telling me that I was short on mileage, but it was rainy, and I trust the Lakefront Path markers. 1.5 to 8.5 is seven miles, no matter what Garmin says :)

I had to stop at Navy Pier to go to the bathroom, so Lois continued on so she wouldn't cool off waiting for me. Now, I have to warn you, dear readers, POSSIBLE TOO MUCH INFORMATION AHEAD!! I was in the bathroom at Navy Pier and I realized that I needed a tampon. Obviously, I have none with me...definitely not something I pack for a run. I also have no change to get one from a machine. This is sooooo not good. I left the stall hoping I'd bump into some woman who might take pity on me in a very empty Navy Pier...when I see two ladies who where cleaning the restroom. I asked them if they had any from the machines...they took me to the supply closet and tried to give me whole box! Not that I wasn't grateful, but the whole box was not necessary. They kept encouraging me to take a few, but really even if it wasn't monsooning outside, how would I carry a few 'to go'? I just took one and thanked them---And I have to say, if they some how stumble upon my blog--THANK YOU SO MUCH!! You ladies are my heroes of the day!!

OK, IT'S SAFE TO READ AGAIN!!

After my stop, I didn't think I'd catch Lois, but I really did want to be done, so I pushed myself for the rest of the run. I actually caught her at Belmont! We finished the run in 2:38:14 and I even ran over Cricket Hill. That's an 11:19 average pace! I'm certain that I ran a mostly negative split for the second half. This was a huge improvement from the elliptical and laying on someones lawn!

After the run, I met Laura, Chad, Nancy and Christina for the ALS Walk 4 Life, which was a quick 2 miles. It was a nice cool down and it was great to support Laura's walk in her mother's honor.

On another note, I really want to do the Race to Madison next weekend. It's a 5k, and I know it's the day before the 20 miler...but I really want the Blackhawks tickets and the tech shirt! If someone wants to walk/run a 5k next Saturday morning. I'm talkin' super easy style, let me know--I'm in!!