Who Would Run Eighteen Miles for Fun?

When thinking about fun things to do on the weekend I’m sure all of us think about running eighteen miles.  Nothing is more delightful than going to bed early Friday night, getting up early Saturday morning, bundling yourself in running clothes and running eighteen miles in below freezing weather. That’s what I was thinking last Friday when I was getting ready for my eighteen-mile, training run on Saturday.  I was so excited about this run that I didn’t get much sleep the night before. Excitement is my middle name (not really but it should be).  I’ve never run that distance, all at once, in my life. Sure, I’ve logged eighteen miles over the course of a week, but never all at once, straight through, in the same day.  

Yes, I’m training for a marathon. I’m still not sure why I thought that I should even try to run a marathon, but I think it had something to do with oxygen deprivation of the brain (all the oxygen going to my legs) and an overdose of endorphins during my last half-marathon race.  Oh, and don’t forget that cute, little, oval sticker that says“26.2” that I would be able to stick on my mini-van.  And it even comes in pink!  I can just see myself running through the finish line saying, “I did it all for the sticker.”  Seriously, though, I’m really running the race for the Team in Training program (TNT) to help raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (and for the STICKER!).

Thinking about running eighteen miles is one thing; looking at the route on a map is another.  When you’re thinking about running eighteen miles, the distance is just a number, like in math.  I’m so glad I learned math because it certainly was useful to know that eighteen was simply 16+2.  And, I had already gone on a sixteen mile run two weeks ago, so it was comforting to know that I was only going two miles farther than I had gone before—that was until I looked at the route on a map.  Then reality hit me really hard. “I’m doing what?”  I told myself.  Only a crazy person would think that running that route was a reasonable thing to do.  I didn’t come up with the route, some TNT coach did, so I knew that I wasn’t the crazy person.

Although it was bitterly cold and there was a wind, it was sunny and I found the weather to be perfect for running (that’s code for I tried not to think about it).  I had my MP3 player with a new playlist.  I was wearing three pairs of running pants, two pairs of gloves, a long sleeve shirt, a fleece vest, a jacket, a hat, wool socks and a pair of shoes.  Believe me, if it would’ve been possible to wear two pairs of shoes, I would’ve done it.  You see, I’m always cold, even when running, which is why for runners' standards, I was slightly overdressed.  But I was very comfortable (Ha! I was still cold). We weren’t even a mile into the run when another team member ran up to me to give me a pack of tissues that had fallen out of my jacket pocket—I didn’t even realize it had fallen out. It was the pack of tissues I was carrying because when I run, my nose runs with me.  

The run actually went pretty well.  I was able to run most of the way with another person from the team, and I kept meeting up with the coaches and some of the other team members at the water stops.  Even with two pairs of gloves, my hands were so cold and numb that I wasn’t able to open my gel pack at one of the water stops.  Fortunately, someone was there to help me open it.  Other than the pack of tissues falling out of my pocket, and not being able to open my gel package, the run actually went pretty well.  That is unless you count that I missed a turn on the route and ended up running an extra mile. It wouldn’t be a long run without me going the wrong way.

And now, time for the stats.  My eighteen mile run ended up being a nineteen mile run.  It took me half a day to finish (4:01 hours) and I burned 2,102 calories. See?  That’s why someone would run eighteen miles for fun. It’s all about the calories.

Math lesson #2: calories=fun.