Day 24 - Self Doubt

Have I been in some imaginary world where I really thought I could do this? Today's run told me otherwise! It was only 11 miles....but I just wasn't feeling it. We walked more than I would have liked (up hills mostly), but my legs were tight and heavy and my breathing was still difficult. It could have been related to the humidity, and luckily that did seem to decrease after a brief rain shower. Truth be told.... I will end up walking some during the marathon. And I'm OKAY with that. Really. I've only been running a year and I have a life outside of running. Phew....I feel better getting that off my chest! I had told my sister earlier in the run about the positive self talk paragraph that TNRMT talked about this week. While struggling up the last hill she told me to say that paragraph and you know what, I got up the hill. I had to walk a bit at the top, as I was wheezing at that point, but I got up the hill. I'm so greatful for such an encouraging running partner!!
So the good part of the run including trying out some GU. I took 2 Immodiums about a half hour before we started running, filled my amphipod with plain ol' water and took a few sips of gatorade. I took half the GU pack about 45 minutes into the run. And honestly, it wasn't that bad. I could feel it going down, but it wasn't necessarily heavy in my belly. I continued to sip water throughout the run and then after another 45 minutes I took the other half of the pack. Now I know the recommended "dosage" is 1 full pack every 45 minutes, but I wanted to make sure I could tolerate it first! The first half of our run was pretty residential....aka no public potties around! I had no ill-effects from the GU, so overall this is a success for me (and my testy GI tract)!! Unfortunately I guess I just thought it was going to give me this magical energy and it didn't. But who knows how bad I would have felt after the run had I not taken it? I don't feel bad at all post-run. I got down my favorite post-run drink....chocolate milk and I'm ready to go for the day. I remember having ups and downs in my training for the Pig...so I hope this is just a minor bump in the road. Let's hope because I'm *really* looking forward to the marathon/weekend.