Day 24: Meg's Miles

Today's task:  15 miles @8:30 min/mile

Today's weather:  38 degrees, cloudy, WNW winds @15 mph

Today's outcome:  15.04 miles in 2:05:55 (8:22 min/mile avg pace) + .86 miles in 6:53

Today's run felt really important.  It was the longest distance I've ever run, and it was done in honor of a woman who was probably a lot like me.  As you may have heard, Meg Menzies, a 34 year old mother of three young kids, was struck and killed by a drunk driver while out for a run this past Monday morning in Richmond, Virginia.  Knowing something this awful and tragic could happen to any one of us, the running community has rallied in Meg's memory and in support of the beautiful family she left behind.  As of right now, nearly 85,000 people have said they will run in her honor today.  That's more than the NYC and Boston Marathon fields combined.  Incredible.  

I hugged my kids tightly and kissed them a dozen times before I left the house this morning.  I even kissed my husband, despite him being in the middle of his own post-run ummm...tradition, if you will.  I ran in my blue tank top (Meg's favorite color) with tears in my eyes, a pit in my stomach, and the initials "MM" written Fancily on my hand beneath my miles and times.

Can you spot the math error?  What a dummy.

About 3.5 minutes into my run, I realized I left my GU on the counter.  Son of a bee sting!  Not wanting to find out what 15 miles would feel like without it, I went back to get it (and pee again...I never pass up and opportunity to tinkle!).  Hence, the additional .86 miles tacked on to an already historically long run.  Kinda makes next week's 16 miler seem like old hat.  Well, I'll just keep telling myself that.

The first mile after I got back on the road was slightly ahead of pace, but then my watch had me between 30 and 40 seconds behind for every mile after that.  I was a bit frustrated because I didn't feel like I was running slower than 8:30, but the numbers don't really lie, do they?  The boardwalk was tougher than I expected with the wind whipping through the hotels and swirling around off the ocean.  Getting pelted in the face with sand was not something I expected today.  But I've run that boardwalk in tougher conditions than today's, and seeing "MM" on my hand every mile helped keep me on task.  

It wasn't really until after I got to the other side of Rudee Inlet on my way back that I felt like I found my groove.  Sheesh, only took 10 miles!  I read about the practice of dedicating your miles to someone on The Hungry Runner Girl, and the last 5 miles of today's run were dedicated to Meg, her husband, and her three gorgeous kids.  Perhaps that's how I found my giddyup and made up those 30-40 seconds.  An additional kick in the ass was around mile 13.5, when I saw these smiling faces emerge from the playground at Chick-Fil-A as I ran past:

A couple of high fives and I love you's from my favorite little people was all I needed to push through to the finish.  After a good stretch and an Instagram post with the hashtag #megsmiles, I got in the shower, only to realize my sports bra had chafed the crap out of my back.  I had a very Kevin McAllister moment.

Running for Meg gave me a feeling of gratitude I've never experienced with running before.  I was so grateful to make it home safely to my little family, even if they had no idea why I was so happy to see them.  I ran 15.9 miles for Meg today, and will most likely think of her every time I lace up.  Go to the Meg's Miles Facebook page to read more about Meg and what's being done in her honor.