22 miles. . .

Last Friday we went 22 miles. Once again, "we"was my brother Ryan, my sister-in-law Laura, and my husband Jeramiah. We were probably 2/3 to 3/4 of a mile in and we were running up a small incline. My brother made the comment that that hill took it out of him. I kind of chuckled but I have run enough to know that an off-handed comment like that can be your un-doing later. I started asking questions. Ryan had played three games of basketball the night before. Ryan doesn't toss a ball around and shoot hoops. Ryan plays ball. I then asked him what he ate the night before and how much water he'd had. I also wanted to know what he had eaten that morning and how much water he'd had. I determined that Ryan hadn't eaten enough the night before and was probably dehydrated. I immediately told Ryan that he could cut out early if he felt like he needed to. Secretly I was hoping he would because I was worried about him. We did the same route we did last week just adding a short addition on the trail into Washington at the end. When we were about 15 miles in, I asked Ryan how he was doing and he said not well. I encouraged him to cut out when his wife met us and he agreed. We missed him for the last 6ish miles but I was glad he listened to the limits his body was setting that day.

I put Ryan's story in here because everyone has an off day sometimes. Part of being a runner is learning to listen to what your body has to say. It can be disheartening to not accomplish your goal for that particular run but rest and recovery are so important to your overall training. Trust the process and you will be successful. A day off can mean a killer run next time!

Thanks for checking in and plea check back again soon.