20 Miles: Goose, Collie, Buzzards

Marta and I ran 20 miles today.  Here we are at the beginning of the run. One of us doesn't want to do it. I'll let you decide who that is:

It was rainy and chilly, but I was ready for this run because I planned most of the route around West Akron. I decided we would follow my old, old Blue Line route combined with my morning run around the mall. These two combined would give us about 14 miles, so I came up with extra miles along the way. It was an adventure, to be certain.

Our adventure started when a goose attacked us. I know what you are thinking. You think a goose ran after us, but you are mistaken. That goose flew up into the air and came at MY FACE, hissing at us. Marta was looking at a storefront, and I pushed both of us out of the way of the dangerous beast, yelling, "Jesus! It's attacking us!"  I saved our lives, Peeps.

This is EXACTLY how the goose looked when it came at me, Peeps.

Then, as we were running (ok, we were walking here) along the sidewalk on S. Hawkins Avenue, a Collie came out of the yard and aggressively charged us, barking and growling. I thought, This is how it ends, with Lassie tearing out my throat. Luckily, the owner came out, got the dog, and apologized. She saved our lives, Peeps.

Here is a picture of me telling Marta to get out of the way of a car behind her. I saved her life, Peeps.

As we ran up S. Rose, we saw two buzzards tearing apart a brown paper bag. They were ginormous. I wanted Marta to take a picture of them because my phone was in my pack, but she refused because taking pictures of buzzards brings about Bad CroMo. This is short for Croatian Mojo. She did pull out my phone for me, and I was able to take the pictures for you:

We also had a tiny dog yip at us as we passed its territory, but I wasn't scared. It was on a leash.

As we ran, the sun tried to come out, and the sky turned from gray and gloomy to blue and fluffy. Marta and I discussed houses we passed, and before we knew it, we were finishing strong by running down the Portage Path hill to the end of our route.

20.11 miles.  Done.

Now I taper for the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon. Would you like to join me there? Click here to register, and use my code, SI2019, for a 10% discount on any of the races you choose. Get on this, Peeps, the race is quickly filling up!

May you run happy sans wicked geese, dogs, or buzzards, Peeps.

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20 Miles!

My students took a practice Advanced Placement test on their Friday afternoon off. It took 3 hours. I told them, "I would never run a marathon without running a 20 miler first to prove that I have the endurance. You need to do the same thing." And so I must take my own advice, and today was the day of the 20 miler before the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon.

Marta and I met at 8:00 AM at Station Road Trailhead. The weather was a perfect day: overcast and 50 degrees. We had the genius idea to break the run up into segments of 5 miles: out 2.5 and back in one direction, again in another direction, and twice in yet a different direction. It really helps me to take on the elephant one bite at a time.

Marta and I are ready and eager to get started. 

The first ten were easy. It was nice to run and chat, and the time passed pretty quickly.  The third set of five miles was still fun, but I could feel that it was becoming more difficult to maintain focus. By the last set I was pretty grumpy.  I tried to use every trick I could; for example, I scanned my body to see what felt good and what didn't. I tried to think about my form and using my glutes and my core. I concentrated on pushing off with my big toes. After a while none of this really worked, so I started swearing, something that I find stress-relieving. Poor Marta had to put up with quite a few times that I said, "I don't f--ing want to do this anymore!" She remained calm and cheerful. Marta, you are a rock. You had better think long and hard about whether you actually want to run with me at the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon because today I was holding back.

We finished strong.

I am alive, and we still like each other.  I'm pretty sure.

As we were recovering in the shade of the depot, I heard someone call my name, and lo and behold, it was Pam and Steve! I'm sure you remember that Pam is also a Cleveland Marathon Ambassador, and Steve is a pacer. I invited them to the party at my car that definitely involved Muscle Milk and POSSIBLY involved some Fat Tire to celebrate.

Pam always looks fresh as a daisy. I really hate her. I look like I'm having a gas attack.

I don't feel terrible. I was still able to come home to the mountain of laundry at my house AND scrub my son's room (which was disgusting--you don't even want to know). Am I ready for the marathon? I hope so. I think I did a good job, even though I was slower than I would have liked. Hopefully I'll do a better job of maintaining my pace during the race. I'm trying not to think about race day; I'm just going to put my trust in my training.

Want to join me? You still have time to sign up: online registration is back! You can use my code, SICLE10, to get a 10% discount on any of the races. You can even use it if you sign up at the expo! Speaking of the expo, I'll be there on Saturday from 3-6 at the information booth. Come talk to me!

Until then, run happy, Peeps!

Like what you read? Follow me on Twitter @itibrout!

20 Miler!

This was my second 20 miler ever. The first was the Akron Blue Line run just before the Akron Marathon, and with the heat and the sidewalks and the concrete and the chafing. . .it was brutal.

This is the Blue Line.

This time I decided to run 20 miles on my own terms.

Normally I should have run the 20 miles last week, BUT I DO THINGS ON MY OWN TERMS; didn't you just read that? Instead I ran the Pro Football Hall of Fame Half Marathon, and yes, I know you are waiting for Part Deux of the race recap, but that isn't happening this week, ok?

A few months ago when I was running with Jen and Renee, they both volunteered to help me with the 20 miler, and they suggested I invite the Burning River Goddesses. I did, and they generously stepped up. I did a bowtie of five miles in each direction from Lock 29, and I had a crowd to help me along in the beginning.

I'm a Goddess! I'm the Goddess of NO CHILL!

Marta, who has run OVER 30 MARATHONS and is running the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon, stayed with me for the full 20 miles.

We saw deer.

We saw turtles.

We saw herons.

The weather was beautiful, sunny with a chilly wind. Marta and I ran when we wanted to and walked when we needed to, and it was a great time overall.

Marta and I took a pic at the Beaver Marsh (14.44 miles in)

One thing I like about running with the Goddesses is that they are incredibly chill. We all know that I have NO CHILL WHATSOEVER, so it is important to me that I have someone to calm me down.

For the first time in a long time, I woke up this morning excited for a long run.

When we finished, I hugged Marta repeatedly and thanked her and told her how much it meant to me to have someone so experienced running with me. Then she gave me candy. WHAT????

You want this awesome Goddess with you when you run 20 miles.

So, now I am trying to relax with a recovery drink while my intuitive husband takes the kids to the mall and then to dinner so that we can have a nice dinner of steak and wine together.

Today was a good day. If the weather holds out, I feel I will be ready to tackle the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon. Will you join me? Click here to register!  Don't want to run? Try the link to volunteer; it's so fun to be in the midst of the action without having to hurt yourself.

I feel good, Peeps. I feel like I want to run. I want to run with you. Will you run with me?  I'm waiting to hear from you.

Until then, run happy, Peeps!

Like what you read? Follow me on Twitter @itibrout!