Sept 1, 2014 Heuvelton Labor Day 4 Mile Fun Run, and The 18.12 Challenge

First things first, I definitely could not keep up with the 300 miles last month, once I missed one day it all went down hill. I did get 130 miles though, and I'll take it! I finished out my streak at about 36 days before I really needed a rest. I started having lots of tighness in the inside of my hips, towards my abs not towards the outside. So I took some easy weeks and kept running but taking days off and now I feel much better. I might shoot for 200 miles this month though, why not? :)

Heuvelton Labor Day 4 miles:

So this race is for part of our town's Labor Day festivities. My gps said it was 3.86 miles but I noticed that other people had less or more distance. Either way, I'm going to assume it was shy of 4 miles. Regardless, I finished in 29:35 and was the second female finisher (Jacqueline Danis finished in 27 mins and some change). I got a medal for 2nd Place female aged 20-40, yay! It was fun and I got to talk with lots of people and just have a good time.

The 18.12 Challege:

Yesterday I ran the 18.12 Challenge which is 18.12 miles, running from Watertown, NY to Sacketts Harbor, NY. The day did not look promising because of the weather but, we were all there ready to go anyway. I started with Nicole (2:58:23) and Craig Thornill (2:20:00) and Karen Mathews (2:42:45) and Kendra Moran (2:30:39)(sisters, and they are fast!). Away we went. I felt great all the way until mile 7 when I started to feel the blister on my right foot. It didn't hurt I could just tell it was there. I was pretty thirsty the whole time too, I didn't bring my own water and I was hungry but carried a bar and jelly beans, although, I only ate the beans (I couldn't open the bar because the wrapper was all wet from the rain). It rained off and on the whole race sometime sprinkling sometimes almost hailing the rain was so cold and hard. By mile 13 my blister hurt with every step, almost like I was getting poked by a needle every time I put my foot down. Still, that was my only issue. At mile 15 or so it started to downpour. My shoes were soaked through within seconds and suddenly felt like they weighed 10 pounds each. Nothing to do but keep going, I was aiming for under 3 hours. The last 3 miles were really painful and completely mental, they seemed to last for 30 minutes each. When I rounded the final corner and could see the finished the wind picked up and I was running straight into it and it was downpouring. The wind was so hard it felt like it was pushing me backward. I thought the clock said 2:59:38 and I thought to myself that I needed to sprint because if I fell over the 3 hour mark by seconds I would be so dissapointed (failing by 10 minutes would have been better really). I crossed to the finish and realized it was 2:54:39, YAY :) I feel so bad for the people who took an hour longer or more to finish, I can not imagine how wet and awful they felt, especially considering how awful I felt after only being soaked through my shoes for 3 miles. It took my shoes off right away and yeah, my blister sucks!!  I got my medal and shirt, congratulated Nicole and Craig and then hopped in mom's car and came home.

August Miles: 130.28
2014 Miles: 735.96