I Totally Rock!

Yes, yes, British friends, I know that's a completely American thing to say. If I were British, I would say something along the lines of, "I put forth a nice effort today." The reason for my outlandish pride? I ran 18 miles yesterday-- the longest I've ever run-- and did it in just over three hours.

After last week's disappointing effort, I was beginning to fear that I might not be able to do the marathon after all. Twenty-six miles is a LONG way, after all. But now that I've done 18, I'm fairly certain that I'll be able to do it. The run was hard work, but felt good in an odd way. I spent the first 15 minutes of the run trying to figure out where to put my two foil bottles of Lucozade (American fans: that's British Gatorade). First I tried both front pockets, then I tried putting two in my back pocket, then I tried one in the back and one in the front. Nothing worked, and I really hate carrying things (except for my iPod, which is small and perfectly formed). Finally, I put one in my front pocket, my iPod in the other front pocket and I carried one bottle. That seemed to work best.

OK-- you in the back-- are you still awake after the description of my Lucozade problem? Anyway, I did the first four and a bit miles of the marathon course, ran around the infamous Millennium Dome, then through the Greenwich footpath under the Thames, joined the marathon course again to run around Canary Wharf, then back home to Greenwich. Whee!

Waiting for the lift at the pedestrian tunnel on the way back, now nearly done with my run, a bloke looked my tired, stinky, sweaty body up and down and asked, "Did you just run up the stairs or something?"

"No," I said. "But I just ran 18 miles! Thanks for asking!!"

"I did that twice yesterday," he joked.

Needless to say, I was VERY sweaty and VERY stinky by the time I got home. I didn't realize how sweaty I was, though, until I saw my hat this morning (see picture). All that salty sweat also made it stiff as a board.

I am also very pleased to report that after limping around like a 80-year-old retiree last night, I am able to walk just fine with no soreness today. Whee! Are you sensing the euphoria in this house? What will I be like the day after the race??