Second 20 miler

This time I ran the 20 miles on part of the Boston Marathon route. I followed the training route of the Heartbreakers running company this morning. 20 miles was a 10 mile loop, twice. This meant running on “ heartbreak hill” twice. For the record, I hate running loops. We started at 9a.m which is late for me. Plus this was a new route that I had never been on. There were many things going on. I was in unfamiliar and uncomfortable terrain. Doing a long run I didn’t want to run by myself. Besides, there are only so many places I could run in East Boston.

The run was starting at the Heartbreakers running company store. It just happens that they are at mile marker 20 on the Boston Marathon route.

Saturday is Marathon training. There were so many people training on the course and some of their organizations they were running for had fuel and hydration for the runners. It was kinda like a mini running festival.

I know I can do 10 miles. Well, I was in for a surprise. It was 10 miles of uphills. WTF. I thought I had to run this shit again?!!! Hence the mental battle started. I was going to take the first 10 miles easy, just to get to know the route. I did not know what to expect. This was a true challenge. When I finished my first 10 my time was 1:38, which is good. But doing this again. I know I’ve been doing treadmill workouts and the track workouts but I was not ready for this. Once, yes but twice no! The energy it took me was beyond what I thought I would need. Around mile 16, I just couldn’t any more. My feet started to hurt and didn’t have the energy or maybe the well. I ran and walked. At mile 18, I just walked it.

Which wasn’t good. My body got cold and my legs got tight. At some point I noticed all the people that were running were not around. I had no idea what time it was because my phone had died. No time, no music, no direction- hot mess.

As I walked/ran I noticed there the 19 mile marker and the John Kelley statue.

Neighborhood

I’m all around race and place. On this route, I noticed 4 African-Americans/black folks training. There was a larger number of Asian/Asian-Americans running the route. I’m thinking BGR should have a water station out there. Then I ran in Wasban, Netwon- Which are wealthy , spacious neighborhood. I thought about how ,the city keeps displacing people and building on top of building. Out here there is space, green space, country clubs, and more country clubs. Inequality of wealth and place hands down.

Here is my little Black Girls Run self running 20 miles in this space. Correction 20.04 miles. Now that I know, I will be back there next Saturday for my 15 mile long run.