16 miles...for real?!?

We had planned to start running at 8am. We had lined up runners to help us through it. We had planned for everything...except for 3 degrees. The run was cancelled. We decided to start at noon. When I went back to bed I never expected to really run 16 miles. Come on now, we ran 10 on Friday night and 5 on Saturday. We were tired. Too bad I ate like someone who would run 16 miles. When we finally left the house at 12:22pm it was 19 degrees and with the wind felt like 10. I was bundled up to the max. 2 pairs of sox, 2 pairs of pants, 3 shirts, gloves, hat, and a scarf tied around my face. A half mile into the run I was overheated. We had planned 3, 4.2 mile loops and a 3.2 mile loop. The benefit would be, we would not have to carry water or gu. The first loop was tough, but doable. Coming up the hill on Angell, I pushed too hard. When we reached the car my quads were yelling at me. Water...Gu.. and back to running. I didn't allow myself to think. Our friend turned at Sessions, she kept us moving for the first 5 miles or so. We kept moving. Before I knew it we were at the car again. Water...Gu...Joe looked like he was done. Bent over, hands on his knees. We had 12 miles to go, I couldn't do it alone. FOCUS! I yelled at him. We took off again. My i-pod died at mile 7 or so. I chanted "I feel good" for the next 4 miles. Things did feel good. We were at the car for the last stop. Only a 5K to go, we could do this. We took off again. Running down Angell St., my knees started to ache. Heading down Elmgrove, I got a stitch in my side. No matter what I did with my breathing, it didn't help. I called to Joe on Elmgrove that I couldn't do it. It didn't matter. If we pushed ahead or turned around it would be 16 miles. God damn it!! We kept going. Up Rochambeau I kept my head down. We hit Hope St., and took a left. The hill in front of me felt like a lifetime, for a while I questioned if it took an hour and a half to get up. I questioned what happened to my confidence from earlier. Finally the top, here was the YMCA. All I had to do was make it down the hill and around the corner. Easier said than down. We headed down, Joe pulled ahead. At Tortilla Flats I paid attention to my form. I was slunched over and barely moving my feet. I purposefully stood straight. I lifted my legs at the knees. I pumped my arms. My speed quickened. I was going to finish this. Before I knew it the car was in front of us. We finished 16 miles in 2 hours and 48 minutes. It was a great feeling!! One of my reasons for running the loop was to cut the run short, but we didn't! We finished! It felt good. If we keep the up the marathon may also feel good!!