20/20

I've finished my breakfast of a bagel with almond butter, banana, and coffee. While fueling up I read about my friend Ashley Kurpiel describing an event yesterday:

"..had an amazing night.. I was honored along with some other amazing men and women.. Such an honor to be able to be recognized for just living my life.. I even got a standing ovation! I'm so thankful for the great people that surround me always.."

As I read this and finish eating my bagel, the radio, as if on cue, plays Blackbird:

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

*******

I have a mighty milestone to reach today: 20 miles. This is the training distance that one needs to cover to be minimally prepared for a marathon. Running much further than this tears the body done too much to be considered "training," but much less and the body does not experience the physiological changes that come with the distance. The dreaded wall as carbs are depleted may be seen for the first time.

I have broken down in every single marathon I have run. Cramping was my first enemy, then an assortment of inventive tripwires. Even when I had great training, I did not consider that the very dry air of the Arizona race site would trigger an asthma attack that would land me in the med tent after the race. At Cleveland my right hip flexor gave up the ghost and I struggled just to finish; I barely made it to that race as my ankle was becoming a distortion of what it once was.

So yes, I have a healthy respect for the distance and why I've been so concerned about my less than stellar training. I will certainly find out today if my residual limb and socket are going to be friends and let me get this long run done without incident. There is still time for some quality training if we can all just get along. I want to cover this distance at least 4 times, with some shorter long runs done a bit faster.

My plan for this first 20 miler is to start with 2 on the treadmill, then 6 near the house for 8 total. I'll refill my Camelbak and head out for the last 12. I had a good night's sleep and feel rested for this effort. The dreaded Drysol has been applied. I hate you Drysol. I love how well you work.

It's going to be a long day, a serious test. My recent training has been going well so I have some confidence it will make this run less stressful.

In two months I will be standing on the starting line of the Charleston Marathon. In some ways it begins today, the transition to the path up...up to that goal. I can see it clearly in the distance.

Time to do it. Time to move. Time to fly.

******* 

Update: Mission Accomplished!

I ran my first amp 20 miler and I am still in a bit of a shock...I never got in distress, the last 6 miles were my strongest, and if I were running a marathon today I would have made the full distance. My socket did take some skin off the back of my knee, so I'll be visiting Floyd Brace early in the week to get it adjusted once again.

I sure needed this confidence boost, given the marathon is only two months away, which is 6 weeks and the taper.

Whew.