The Twenty

On my run...20 mi (Nov 2)
Originally uploaded by Becca Elizabeth

and no, not the "twenty" that you get to see in the movie theater when you get there early. This was one of the more grueling runs I've ever completed...and actually, the longest one to date. I didn't make the full 20 miles. I almost threw in the towel at mile 14 and called it quits, already fighting back tears, when Steve came running back towards me on the trail. Emmy & Steve had run ahead, and Josh had been following me on his bike. My first thought when I saw Steve was "oh no, something's happened to Emmy." Thankfully (for Emmy) Steve had only come back because he'd lost Emmy and wasn't sure of the rest of the route.
Now that it wasn't just Josh with me (who was being completely sweet about my breakdown) and was with Steve (who was someone I'd met only 2x before) I put on my brave face and picked up my feet. We ran/walked/ran/bitched about how we should have been training better/ran some more, etc...for the remaining 4 miles. As great as it was having Josh with me for the first 14 miles (and THANK YOU JOSH , YOU ARE THE BEST if you're reading this) I have to say that it was having Steve there that pulled me through the final miles.

The good:
The run was amazing. The route was beautiful, and one that I've always wanted to do from start to finish. We started out in Valley Forge and followed the Schuylkill River Trail all the way down to Philadelphia. Not to mention all the insanely beautiful leaves that were out. There was even a section of trail that twisted its way through a wooded tow path in Manayunk:

unfortunately, this was only shortly before my mental and physical breakdown. I'm actually still amazed that I realized my surroundings were pretty. I was in a sorry state.

I think the most frustrating part of it all was that cardiovascular-wise, I was tip-top. Doing great. Heart rate - easily in the 180's. It was everything below the waist that was killing me. My knees, my feet, my hips, my joints, my TOES. I mean every step, even walking, was a personal hell. The thing is, I'd been so good about keeping my heart in good shape while I got over the Achilles Thing, I'd been completely un-aware of the fact that all that elliptical work was going to do NOTHING to prepare my body for the physical pounding I was currently giving it.

We made it back to Emmy's house, where I proceeded to collapse on the floor of her living room while she gave me a banana and a jar of peanut butter.

I had to ice my knee for the next 48 hours. The best part of the WHOLE thing though, the silver lining, was 2 things. My Achilles didn't hurt at all...and the best part...I just ran 18 miles. Holy sh*t.