Today was like the first Team-D training I have done in about two months, and this was, for me, a record breaking milestone. Not in speed, noooo, but today I ran the longest distance I have ever run, a distance that has seemed unfathomable.
Today I ran 18 miles.
Not only that, it has been since late September that I have even seen double digits.
This was my test to see if I could really be in place to reach for the full 26.
We met at Granada Park, for some loops up and down the canals between 32nd street at one end and Northern Ave at the other, with a bunch of side loops through the multimillion dollar monstrous “homes” in Biltmore Circle. The weather was everything- chilly at first, then periods of steady drizzle, then the sun would break out, then rain, sun, rain, sun.
I kept it really slow going from the outset as just wanted to finish, muttering under my breath as other team members flew by at greater speeds, and smiling. I felt really good at 6 miles, 9 miles, some bursts at 12. By 16 I was starting to dog it, much slower, and had to stop twice to deal with some dipping low blood sugar.
But I ran the whole damn thing. No walks.
18, frackin’ 18.
name: Alan Levine
Way to go, Alan! Congratulations!
I’m so glad that you kept at it through the discouraging times. You came back from the injuries and pain of last year, and now you are about to become a marathon runner!