Hugh Is My Hero!

22 miles. Wow. 22 miles. And I owe finishing to Hugh. My knee starting hurting somewhere around mile 6 or 7. Not as badly as last weekend, but enough to make me grimace several times. Hugh fell in behind me at the beginning of the run and within a few minutes we were talking and getting to know each other a little better. I explained to him that I was NOT planning to do the Spillway side--too many hills and I thought my knee just didn't need that. Pam mentioned to me that she didn't want to do Spillway either, so she had decided to do the boat launch a couple of extra times.

I think several people decided the same thing. Hugh and I decided to do Fox Bay twice and the boat launch 3 times total. And thanks to my Garmin, we were able to calculate all of this mileage to ensure that we got in our 22. So, after the 3rd boat launch trip, the Garmin said we'd been 20+ miles. So, we knew we were good to head "home." And when we hit 22 we both let out a scream! It felt great!

But, I can tell you that I don't know if I would have made it without Hugh. Just having someone beside me to talk to and keep me going was great. We did 3:1 intervals which was just what I needed for my knee. I know I slowed Hugh down (between my bathroom breaks and my stretching at every water stop) but he was such a good sport. I think my company may have helped him, too. :-)

I came home and got in a tub of ice water. But, even that didn't help much this time. I could barely walk. I took about a 45 minute nap, which helped me tremendously. I didn't feel quite as stiff when I woke up from my nap but by bedtime, I was hurting again. I didn't sleep well either.

I'm much better today, but still very stiff. I decided the best thing to do was go for a walk. So, I walked in my neighborhood for about 30 minutes. The first 10 minutes were VERY slow but I finally got my muscles loosened up some and was able to walk at a normal pace. I sent an email to Wayne for advice. The marathon is 20 days away!!! I really DON'T want this knee pain during the marathon. Because I may not be as lucky as I was yesterday. It may be so bad that I can't finish. That would be devastating. You all know what I'm talking about!!

Anyway, I guess I'll wait to see what Wayne says. And, in the meantime I'll continue stretching, icing and swallowing Ibuprofen. I'll keep you guys posted. Hope everyone has a good week. We are so close!