Worst... Run.... EVER!!!

As most of you know, #5 Michigan lost to Appalachian State University on Saturday 34-32. It was a huge upset. ASU is a school in Division I-AA. They went up to Ann Arbor, MI with only 40 something players to play in "The Big House." It's called that for a reason - 109,000 fans witnessed history! If you don't follow college football, that would be similar to a very good high school football team beating The Dallas Cowboys. Ok, maybe I'm stretching that a bit, but my point is this: It was not expected to happen.

If you're a Michigan player (or fan), you came into that game thinking "no big deal." Sure, it's a game... but it shouldn't be that difficult. When the game is over, we'll have won and we'll prepare for the next one. As I laid on my couch Saturday afternoon watching the thrilling end to this shocking game, I sympathized with the Wolverines (Michigan). Why? Not because I'm a big fan of Michigan. It's because I, too, was guilty of that same overconfidence earlier in the day.

My day began at 4:00 AM. I woke up to the darkness thinking, "Well... time to get up and get ready for 18 miles." I stretched at my house before I left, but I didn't have a lot of excitement. It was like I was going to work or something... not "I'm about to run 18 freakin' miles!!!" I casually thought that since I did so well the week before with 17, what's another mile? Believe me... that extra mile was something else and THEN SOME!

We started out from the Big Thicket. I knew something was amiss when we were just at 2 miles and we were dealing with a lot of cars on the road. Normally, when we've run before, the lake isn't that busy in the morning. I also didn't think it would be very busy on a holiday weekend.

At the 6 mile mark we started seeing troops of runners. I'm serious... there were these great big groups of 20-30 runners all running towards us. Behind them, the bikers. Behind them, the walkers.... and then you'd see another squad of 20 or so runners. Hence, that's why we had all of the traffic so early: Running Groups.

At 9 miles we were back at the Big Thicket. Instead of lapping the lake again, we thought it best to turn back towards the spillway. That way we could avoid the groups. Well, I was feeling mighty bad at that point. My knees were hurting, and the humidity was getting to me. But, I hung in there.

Around 12 we hit something unexpected: A Race. There was some sort of 10k or something going on, and there had to be 500+ people running it. We passed them before they took off in hopes of getting to the water fountain (about a quarter mile away) before they started. However, that didn't work. They took off and basically forced us into the grass. Miserable...

We then turned back towards the Big Thicket... it was getting hotter and the humidity was still bothering me. We hit the parking lot at 15 and I was gassed. I wanted to quit so bad. Probably the worst I've ever felt. However, I decided to not quit because Becky hadn't quit on me. You see, I'd say, "Go on... just leave me" and she'd always say, "Nope... we're finishing this together."

And you know what? She was having a fantastic run! It was a tale of opposites. The week before it was me having the good run and she was suffering. We commented on why we're always "off." Around 16 we saw an old man passed out on the side with heat exhaustion issues. Becky went and flagged down some cops (even though they were a little reluctant) to help him (there were also others with him).

Instead of crossing over the bridge to go back to the west side of White Rock, we just headed north. It was not only shadier, but we didn't have anyone to bother us. We ran and ran.... and ran up to Northwest Highway. At that point it was 17 and we turned back. When we finally got to 18 and she called it, I almost burst into tears. Words can't convey how unbelievably bad I felt.

So here I am... 3 days later. I STILL feel awful. I told Rob when I got home that morning I had dropped 15 lbs. of water weight. I slept for 2 hours that day and never left the house. My legs are still sore, and I can't believe I've got to run tonight... 5 miles!

Was I overconfident? Yes. Am I humbled by that? Absolutely. I will do much better from here on out. I'm not superman. I won't allow myself to get into that mindset anymore. I've run too far and too long to get to this point and make mistakes like that. And, more importantly, I'm too damn stubborn to quit... give up... send up the white flag. Nope, I'm in this to win. I'm in this to cross that finish line in Chicago! Mentally, I'm pissed/fired up!

Now if I'm thinking that way, do you think Michigan is thinking the same? Hmm... guess we'll see this weekend when they play Oregon... and I complete my 14.