So today was a BIG day for me.    Today was a test.    A test that I passed. Barely.   It was hard as hell, but I completed the task at hand (or foot).   Today I ran for the VERY first time 20 miles. Did I hit “the wall?:   Maybe, but I kept on going.  I did it in 3:57:02 burning over 2000 calories which I think I may have consumed since I finished.

So why the test?

You may remember my post Can’t Always Get What You Want

Where I talk about how close I came to possibly being in this years NYC Marathon.

Obviously, I  didn’t get in, but it was there in the back of my mind.  Could I run a Marathon if I wanted.   Could I push myself?   I didn’t get the opportunity to find out, so I focused on the Hat Trick training which worked for me.   But in my mind,  the seed was planted.   I may do the NYC Marathon in the future, but I wanted to test my limits now.   I have friends that are  going to Philly to do the Gore-Tex Marathon in a few weeks. I’ve been toying with it, but haven’t made a decision.   I could even do a half.  I could call it a day and just wait till next race season.   I’ve pushed a lot this year.   A lot more than I ever thought that I would.  But I was curious if I could push myself for a long training run.   I wanted to see if I could do it.   Dawn had one today.   So I tagged along.   Why not?    Just a fun day with a friend.   But I told her I would do the 20 and she got me there.

Before today the most I’ve ever run in one day is a little more than 13 miles.  Training for the Hat Trick, I did have days where I would run 13 after running 5 & 8 in the preceding days.   I ran 22 total when I did the Hat Trick.   I needed to see if I could do the 20 though.

I never fully understood how heavy the legs would feel on a long run like this.   There were decent hills too and as the miles rose it felt like someone was adding weight to my legs.   Since I didn’t “need” this run for any other reason than to test myself, I probably (no probable here) would have stopped without my running buddy.   I would have hated myself later, but I still would have stopped. She needed it, but she also knew that mentally I needed it.   We plodded through this run with a good solid pace even up those big hills.  It was worth it, when we hit the 20 though.

What did I learn about pushing it to 20 today?

1. Don’t do Crossfit with wall balls the day before.
2. Don’t do a 6 mile hills  two days before
3. I can do it.
4. I am ready, I just need to decide if now is the time.

So as I ponder these things, I will finish my wine, eat my chocolate, and go to bed as I’m tired!

What limits do you push?