16 mile training day! The life force has been sucked out of me! Bridgework was kiddie stuff compared to today’s run! I must admit that my stomach was in a knot this morning…I was really intimidated by it. It’s getting close ladies and gents…..TWO MONTHS!

Today we were joined by Magnus, a former teammate. Accolades to him…He just finished the San Francisco Marathon (not to be confused with the Nike Women’s Marathon in San Francisco) two weeks ago. Magnus resembles an Olympic athlete…he’s tall, lean with excellent muscle tone. An elite runner in my opinion (he begs to differ). Magnus decided to run alongside Sarah and myself…why? I’ll ask him next time I see him.

We had an okay start…wait, did I hear a faint rumbling in my tum-tum? Yeah, it was my mammoth appetite awakening! Anyway….it was refreshing having Magnus there. He kept our minds off the grueling run by sharing his marathon experiences and giving us pointers for race day and training. At about mile 5 I began to feel some discomfort on my left Achilles tendon. Kept on movin’ though. The discomfort turned into slight pain while running after Magnus downhill. Lesson learned here – run with someone with a similar pace as yours. I stopped at the bottom of the Rickenbacker for a stretch. Mind Over Matter – if you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter…with that thought I continued along. Boy was it excruciating…the achilles tendon pain was bearable, it was the fatigue that sucked the juice out of me. I took all the precautions – loaded up on the carbs, constant stretching and I went to bed at 7:30 p.m. last night! YES…7:30…jammies on, creamed up and in Buble land. I cannot recall the last time I went to bed this early. Well Geez Mary Ann, maybe that’s because you were 9 months old!!! DUH!!! Okay, so back the subject. All’s I recall is somehow zoning out and just movin until all 16 miles were under my belt…FUEL belt that is!!! He he…que loca!

I have yet to discover the secret to a successful run. Is it the combination of good rest, nutrition, and a great date? Harbored negative energy to really fire you up? A great week at work? Maybe it’s just confidence. Well, I need to start experimenting with formulas cause if my marathon was today, I would’ve had to finish in combat crawls!!!