8 Mile

So, Saturday's run was eight miles. I've spent the past 48 hours trying to come up with a clever play on Eminem's movie, "8 Mile." As it turns out, I'm not that clever. A Wikipedia entry and an IMDb post later, I still don't have any clever lines for you.

I guess I'll have to go all journalist and give just the facts.

This was, by far, the least fun run I've done yet. It was raining. Really raining. Last week was a bit misty, but this was straight rain. It hit me in the face — taunting me, torturing me — for the first five miles.

Thankfully, one of my fellow Half Squatches let me borrow a poncho. (You're a goddess, Becky.) There's no way I would have made it without that bright red, BOK-logoed gift. I would have been soaked.

For the first leg of the run, I was leading my pace group, running right alongside Sue, one of our group leaders. She was going faster than I would have if I were picking the pace, but I liked the challenge of trying to keep up. That challenge was the only distraction I had from the rain.

The rain was so unpleasant, a few of our group members cut out early. I don't blame you, friends. Without that poncho, I would have made the same choice.

I tried an on-trail snack. At the water stop/five-mile mark, Sue shared a couple of sports beans with me. They were delicious. After eating them, I had a lot more energy. But that might have been because the rain died down rather than because of the sports beans. Still, Sue deserves a thank you. I'll definitely get my own beans for our next long run.

The last three miles were great. I spent some time getting to know some of my fellow group members. I talked to Archie, who's in training because he wanted a challenge. I met Chad. He was wearing a Mythbuster's T-shirt, so I instantly knew we could be friends. I met Jeff, a new member of our group. He has run a half marathon before but was looking for people to run with. And I raved about the new radio station, GenX 106.1, with Heather and the Ambers (we have two of them). They're close to my age and a lot of fun.

Our group finished the run at the same time as another group — only the other group ran 12 miles, instead of just eight. I must admit, that bruises the ego a bit. But Jason, my other group leader, assured me that it's OK. You can't train for distance and speed at the same time, he said. First, I have to build up my distance. Then I can work on my speed.

For now, I'll just try to feel accomplished with my eight miles in 93 minutes.

Next week is a relaxing six miles. Who would have thought I'd look at six miles as a short run? Half marathon training is pretty cool.