I tried my best to think positive about running on the Arsenal. I'd heard it was rough - 7 miles, which included the dreaded "middle miles," and with spectators few and far between. That was all true and it was not good. It was, however, really pretty. We got to run along the river some more, at at that point in the morning, it was filled with sailboats. Lovely, right? There were also plenty of trees, a nice golf course, and some interesting houses and whatnot.However, it was absolutely true that there was a dearth of spectators. At around mile 16, I started to get tired. My legs were cramping, and I really did not feel great. I could not have been more ready to get off the island. For the first time all morning, I started taking walk breaks of more than a few steps.
I got a bit of a boost at mile 19, when I saw an old friend of mine from high school. She was volunteering and did an outstanding job of cheering her lungs out for me. I kept on pushing through, my entire focus being to get off the island and hit the 20 mile mark. There, I knew I'd see my family again and be so very close to do.
Fatigue was setting in bigtime when the 4:30 pace group passed me. I did my best to keep them in my sights as I finally left Arsenal Island.
To be continued...
2 comments:
All very true about the Arsenal Island piece. As pretty as an empty golf course is, it certainly sapped the energy from me. That is a hard section of course to run.
Not only are middle miles really hard because they begin to unravel our plans--like when the 4:30 group passes us--they're also hard to write about.
Good job!
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