Outran my nipples, but am ready for the Half Marathon

Training for the half-marathon is going well.  This morning, I woke at 3:30am.  I dressed, synced up my iPod, and hit the road by 4.  I ran 13.25 miles.  It took me 1 hour and 50 minutes.

I now don’t have to doubt whether I can run the half marathon in 12 days time.  I know I can.  The only question is how well will I do on the day.  And can I keep from injuring myself until that time?

This morning’s long run was interesting.  Although it’s getting lighter earlier, at 4am, it’s still pitch dark.  This morning, while running through a long stretch of road with no traffic lights or buildings, I heard something rustling in the bushes besides me.  You never seen someone run so fast!  I was hoping a car would drive past so I would have the benefit of some headlights instead of my small wind-up flashlight.  Whatever it was, it didn’t chase me.  I made it through the rest of the run pretty well.

I’m on the train home from work now.  The run was ages ago. I think I found every opportunity today to casually mention my run this morning to anyone I could.  Like, I’d stand up and my legs feel very heavy, so I’d say “Yeah.  Went for a long run this morning so I feel a little sore.”  But no one would ask “How far?” So I just add an unsolicited “Yep, 13 miles.”  It was shameful, really.

But my biggest problem today is my nipples.  Back when I first ran a half-marathon at age 20, I was surprised how my sweat-soaked shirt bounced up and down and basically rubbed my nipples raw.  So, I used to either tape them up or cover them in Vaseline.  Well, the same thing happened this morning.  I didn’t noticed how bad it was until I got home and jumped in the shower.  I yelped at the stinging sensation.  There’s blood on my running shirt.  For the past few weeks, I’ve been doing ten mile runs with no problem, but today they chafed at 13 miles.  My nipples have a 10-mile limit.  Who knew?

But, it’s nice to know that at age 36 I can still run the distance I did at 21.  Not as fast, of course, but I could endure it.  So as I sit here, trying to restrict my movements so my shirt doesn’t rub against my chest, I can be satisfied with what I’ve achieved.