A Case of #RunCrazy

You’ve all heard of Brooks’ #runhappy campaign, probably, but I’m pushing for my own campaign: #runcrazy. Who wants to sponsor it??

If you’re a runner, and especially a marathon runner, you have likely experienced the #runcrazy.

When the doubt creeps in and grabs ahold of you, and you fear that you won’t finish in your goal time and that all of your runs up until now have been for naught.

Saturday, I had a serious case of #runcrazy, and lucky Jess got to be the beneficiary of these crazy emails.

It all started bright and early Saturday morning. Some friends had talked me into the NY Flyers Three Bridge Run. This run is awesome because it’s organized by the NY Flyers, and it’s a 20-mile run with pacers and water stops, and you don’t even have to be a member to run it. It’s $10 for nonmembers, and well worth it.

We were planning on meeting at 6:30, and I was supposed to run 22 for the day. When I walked Bailey at 5:45, it was really dark, and I didn’t feel comfortable running up to Columbus Circle alone in the dark, but thought I could do the 2 after the 20.

Last year, I ran the Flyers run with the 9:30 pace group, and that is what I probably should have run this year, but my friends were all doing the 10:30 group, and, well, running with them for 3 hours sounded more fun than running with other people.

I mean, look at these lovely ladies. I ran with them, and the run went well, save for me falling in Brooklyn because I am the clumsiest woman alive. Last year, the pacer was way, way faster than the pace we were supposed to go, so I was hoping for that this year, but we stayed right around a 10:30 pace. Someone fell when we were running down the West Side Highway, and the whole group stopped and waited to make sure she was okay, which was really nice. But also meant that everyone stopped when I fell to see if I was okay, which was entirely embarrassing.

I powered up the bridges, because running hills at a slower-than-normal pace is really painful. Going over the Queensboro, I told K-Scott the same story I told Tina when we ran that bridge in the marathon last time, and it made the time go by much faster. We got to Columbus Circle and finished 20 miles and went inside to “check out” (they told us we had to sign out, but it seems like we didn’t really have to…) and grab our jackets. We had a brunch reservation at The Smith 15 minutes later. Here’s where I really should have just said to my friends “Okay, I need to go run 2 more miles, and I will be there shortly.” But I didn’t, and I just walked over with them.

With our endorphin highs, we plotted how to change the world (and Junior League) over brunch, and my smile above is the most genuine you will ever see. Walking home from the subway, I called my mom, though, and told her that I was disappointed in myself because I ran 20, not 22, and I should have run faster.

“Um, you ran 20 miles, Theodora.”

“Yeah, I know, but…”

After a bunch of back-and-forth emails with Jess (aka the greatest coach and friend ever), she agreed that yes, I should have done the 2 extra miles, and yes, I probably should have run faster, but it was okay. I mean, what was done was done, and I still got in plenty of time on my feet. I told her my legs weren’t tired at all, and we agreed that I’d do 8 yesterday, with 6 at marathon goal pace.

P.S. Timex sent me a new watch to review – full review coming soon, but I love it.

I was a little nervous to run 8 the day after running 20, but when I finished, I felt so happy. Every time my legs felt sluggish yesterday, I thought of how they would certainly feel that way in the later miles of the marathon, and that I’d be glad I’d practiced goal pace on tired legs.

I’ve never run that long the day after a 20-miler, so that was an awesome mental boost to know that I can do that.

One more week of peak training, AND THEN ALL ABOARD THE EXPRESS TRAIN TO TAPER TOWN.

Tell me about your run-crazies.