Today, I ran the furthest that I've run in my whole life. 30.5 miles. Yet, that wasn't the ultimate win. I will get to that in a minute.
30.5 miles is just over 4 miles further than my last PR (personal record), which was 26.2 miles: LA Marathon 2004. It also felt like a win to do it in 81F (26C), preparing for the heat in Arizona and the Grand Canyon. Yet, it's only 60% of the actual run that we're doing September 7th.
Yes, it was a win, because it's the furthest I've ever gone and my knee and my hip held up the best that they have thus far but they still gave out. I started feeling my hip around mile 15 and the knee around mile 22. By mile 24, I couldn't run any more and I had to walk the rest. I made the decision to go 30 and then stop. If I could do 30, I know I can do 32. I figured I should stop and give my body a break, if I'm going to stand any chance to do the 50.
So what was the ultimate win? The ultimate win was that I had decided to do 30 miles and I did it, no matter how my body felt.
The ultimate win is to have conquered myself. My own mind. Your mind will tell you that it can't be done. That it's too hard. Too difficult. When pain is involved, those voices in your head are even louder.
It's ironic that even though I have conquered those voices so many times in the past, every time you attempt something new, those voices are right back in your ear, as your most dedicated haters. Except, they aren't haters. They are just your defense mechanism, who is trying to protect you. But they don't know better. They don't know that you can't grow if you listen to them. So instead, you have to listen to yourself and beat that part of you that is trying to prevent you.
Now it's time to taper down and focus on recovery and stretching. I'm hoping that it will be enough. Both physically and mentally, I felt really strong today. However, if the knee and/or hip give out, it will be a rough day. It doesn't matter how much gas a car has, if it's missing a wheel.
Picture is from doing the Manhattan Beach Sand dunes yesterday. If you live here, do them!
The second picture is from our belt ceremony at Systems Training Center in Encino yesterday. It's amazing to see these little kids grow every day. Thank you coach Fabio Trinidade for all that you do!
I want to thank my running partner today, Felipe - love that you're doing great things in the LAPD Police Academy.
I also want to give a shoutout to my brother Thomas, who did half an Iron Man today, 2 weeks before we are doing the Grand Canyon. That's pretty beast.
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