Week 24: Eight miles

75 laps, 1:3 minute run/walk ratio, 2:16 hours

I got off to a very slow start again this morning, not starting my run until after 11 am. I had planned to go down to the park to run, but since I got out there so late, I just ran around the house. It was a pretty good run. I didn't get tired and kept up my pace. My time includes one bathroom stop at around lap 56—I was going along just fine, then suddenly, my stomach cramped up, and I had to stop. Then when I came back out, I stopped again to get a rock out of my shoe. Probably took about five minutes altogether. If I could make a bathroom stop in five minutes in Hawaii, I wouldn't mind, but with 30,000 people on the course, there are always lines for the bathrooms, and it can take 20–30 minutes for a stop. It would be nice if I didn't have to stop, but when it takes over seven hours to finish, it's inevitable that I'll need to stop at some point. I can only hope the lines aren't too bad when I do.

I tried out a couple of things for the marathon: for one thing, I wore my waist pack with the big pocket, and put my camera, phone, small wallet with ID and a few bucks and lip gloss in the pocket. It also has an outside pocket that I put my handkerchief in. There was still plenty of room for GU and other snacks. So that was good. The bad was that the strap tends to loosen up as I run, and the pack bounces around and slides to the side, so I'm constantly adjusting it. I still think it will work better than using the one with the small pockets, so I'll take it to Hawaii.

The other thing I did was sew a small square of rubber onto the back of my running watch, so I can wear it on my wrist without shorting it out with my static electricity. I used buttonhole thread and tied the corners of the rubber square together across the top and bottom of the watch face. I had to be careful to tie it tightly enough to hold the rubber in place, but not so tightly that it ripped the corners of the rubber. It seemed to work fine for eight miles, so I'll do that for Honolulu, too.

I'm trying to decide whether to send for this dress to wear while I'm in Hawaii. I'm leaning towards doing it, although time is short and I'm not sure it will fit me. If it doesn't, or if it arrives too late, I suppose I can just send it back, so no loss. It sure is pretty, and I don't have any other casual dresses I can wear on the beach.