Let me first start off by saying how proud I am of the fact that I remembered the word "audiobook" for the title of this little tid bit. For some reason I keep saying "book-on-tape", like it's 1980 and I'm running with my walkman strapped to my hand and wearing neon tights with a thong on the outside.
So the book-on-tape audiobook was a Fantastic idea and I highly recommend it! Those 18 miles felt like.... well, nothing. It was like listening to a book while I happened to be running for 3 straight hours. No big deal. I've found my new Saturday-long-run-day-tradition. And the great thing about audiobooks- they are sooooo long. Not like an awesome song that only lasts 4 minutes. Audiobooks last hours. And hours. 16 hours.
I decided to go with the Cuckoo's Calling. It was at the top of every bookly list I looked at so I jumped on that bandwagon. So far so good. *Sidenote: I did Tina Fey's audiobook too on a long car trip. I lol'd multiple times. So did my husband. But don't listen to it if your parents are in the car. Or your children are capable of understanding what she is saying.
Chicago Marathon is creeping up on me. It's two months away. Eek! I'll be good to go. I'm just nervous. But I have new running shoes which means I'm ready to take on the world! New running shoes are so delightful.
I have amazing news! There was Somebody who knew somebody who knew somebody who knew somebody... who had an extra entry into the Chicago Marathon! So guess who's running the Chicago Marathon!?!?!!? THIS GIRL! Whoop Whoop! I'm obviously beyond stoked for this. I love Chicago. I almost cried when I got the news that there was going to be an entry for me. Ok, that's a lie. I totally cried. And then we went to eat pizza and drink PBR to celebrate.
I'm still going to do Philly too though. So 2 marathons in 5 weeks. Yikes! Sounds crazy until I think of the person I know who will be doing 5 marathons in 5 days. Now that's a yikes! I'm super pumped for Philly too and super excited to see all the people I know who will be up there [hopefully running too! ;) ].
The S-Caps seem to be helping the cramping issues. I really think they make a difference when it's 95% humidity and 95 degrees outside.
Did I mention last time that I lost my iPod over vacation? I didn't really lose it- I just misplaced somewhere in Indiana... I think. Anyway, I started thinking more about how all the running magazines and all the books tell you to "tune out and tune in to what your body is saying" "listen to nature" "be aware of your surroundings". Well, since I was iPodless anyway I thought I'd give it a whirl. And here is the conclusion I came to: F that sh**. I went out and bought a brand new iPod. I would much rather drown out my labored breathing and tune out the fact that my legs feel like cement trucks. And if I ever actually "listened" to my body, I would probably never run again. Speed sessions hurt. Running 16 miles hurts. Waking up a 4:50am hurts (mentally anyway). But I love it and what's why I do it. And I do it with music because honestly, who can run slowly when you have Rihanna's "We Found Love" blasting in your ears?? No one.
I didn't end up running the Run for the Grapes 5k. The night before the race I battled an insane migraine that even my prescription meds couldn't alleviate and the weather was supposed to be crap and rainy the morning of, so I decided to bail on the race. It was a good decision.
So what's next? This upcoming weekend is supposed to be an 18 mile run. It will be the longest I've ever run. Even training for Chicago 10 years ago I think the longest I managed to do was just under 18 (I didn't have a car, was in a new town, and this was before things like gps watches and mapmyrun. Old school, man). I'm debating trying out the whole book-on-tape thing for this run. My playlist gets pretty short pretty quickly when you're talking about running for 3 hours....
