The Longest Day is the day with the most light- the summer solstice. It’s also the day that the Alzheimer’s Association holds a variety of events to recognize the darkness of Alzheimer’s. In conjunction with my fundraising for the NYC Marathon I organized a Virtual 5K. Friends and family around the country participated. Somehow that didn’t feel like enough. But I decided to try something new- something I had never done. In order to recognize the sixteen hours of light I decided I would run 16 miles. But not just go out and run 16 miles, which would have been my longest run but totally doable. Rather, I set out to run one mile every hour starting at 5:30 AM and concluding with the sixteenth and final mile at 8:30 PM. In the abstract this didn’t seem impossible. While it wasn’t impossible it was definitely harder than I had anticipated.
The night before I didn’t sleep well. You know the kind of sleep when you are afraid you are going to oversleep and miss something. That’s how I slept. So I was easily up at 5:15 AM. I wanted my first mile to begin exactly at sunrise 5:39 AM.
While running mile one I reminded myself not to run too hard, as it was the first of many miles. Off I went while the rest of my family slept. I ran the first mile without my headphones. Truly able to appreciate the dawning new day around me.
What I didn’t really think through was how I planned to eat/drink during the day. It wasn’t until after my 6:30 AM Mile (mile 2) that I began my hydration plan for the day. It was very warm and humid, so I knew that even though I was running just one mile at a time, I was going to need to be mindful of my electrolyte balance. So I kept mixing up my Arbonne Phytosport to drink in between miles. It was a delicate balance between staying hydrated and not having too much fluid sloshing around when I was running.
By mile three I realized this was going to be harder than I thought. I was going out between 30-40 after the hour and running on average 8 minute 10 second miles. The trick was that when I got back I couldn’t really sit down because then I would tighten up and needed to stay loose to go out for the next mile. Did I mention, I was running the same loop each time??? It’s literally one mile if I turn left out of my driveway, run to the end of the street then turn around run to the end of the street in the opposite direction and come back to my driveway. So what level of crazy, do we think my neighbors thought I was as I was making these loops throughout the day??
Oh, one other side note. After deciding that I was going to run basically all day, my youngest (4, soon to be 5) was asked to do a special honor at services in recognition of his pre-school graduation. No biggie, right? Wrong, that meant that we had to be on Zoom from 9:30-11:30 AM. This through a slight monkey wrench into my running plans. So my 9:30 mile went off at 9:15. I quickly got back and modified my outfit to be Zoom appropriate. So I wore my “dressy” twist back tank and hustle shorts for the early morning miles and added a blazer for Zoom. While I had “running hair” I did even put some make-up on.
At 10:15 I excused myself from Zoom leaving my husband and boys to run mile six. So at this point in the morning, I’m feeling extra crazy trying to juggle being back and forth. Services should have concluded at 11:00. Big surprise they ran late. My son’s part was at the very end. As soon as he finished, I jumped up to go and run mile 7. It was a typical summer day- translation- hot, humid and the occasional shower. Mile 7 saw the first of the rain. It was that humid, it’s going to storm kind of rain.
Immediately after Mile 7 we ran out to get the items for Father’s Day dinner. I knew we would be cutting it close to be back for mile number 8. On our way back, I decided I would have my husband drop me off at a location that I knew was a mile from home. Trust me, any runner knows one mile in every direction from their house! As he was dropping me off the rain started up again and the sky was dark as night. Rumbles of thunder could be heard and there was definitely lightning. So in all likelihood the smarter thing to do would have been to get home and run on the treadmill. The next smartest option was my husband followed behind me in case the weather “really bad.” You know what- a little bit of fear of the weather and your husband/kids following behind you prompts your fastest mile in a VERY long time!
After mile 8 I had some of the very best cauliflower crust pizza- EVER! Again, not trying to overeat I only had a bit before I headed out for mile number 9. While I was still maintaining a good pace, each mile was starting to feel like a little more work. At this point I knew I was more than half way there. This was a huge mental milestone.
I had hoped to run mile 10 with my six year old. But the weather was still pretty dicey. As a result between miles 9 and 10 for me, he ran a mile on the treadmill, while my 4 year old did a quarter of a mile. They were so excited and proud to be part of the process. Note: we also used fundraising and running as a way to talk about the fact the Pop Pop (my Dad) has Alzheimer’s disease and what that means. It was a very hard conversation but an important one to have. 
You know when it rains there are two options- it cools off or it gets more humid. Any guesses what the rain was like on June 20th??? Yup, the humidity cranked up after the rain. So many times I had previously told myself it’s just a mile you can do it. When you start adding all the just a miles on top of each other it becomes A LOT!!
The later miles were definitely harder than I had expected them to be. I did a wardrobe change to try to freshen up. But basically I was hot and sweaty on and off all day.
During Mile 11 I realized I was hungry and was going to need to do a better job with my nutrition. I decided a banana and peanut butter on wheat bread would do the trick. The snack provided just the boost of energy the I needed for Mile 12. Right before Mile 12 friends stopped by with some tasty muffins. I knew those would be a snack for the later miles.
By Mile 13 the humidity was pretty unbearable. I laughed to myself that I had reached a half marathon distance in what my father would call “the hard way.” I chatted with some neighbors who finally asked what in the world I was doing today. We shared that both of our fathers suffered from brain related diseases and commiserated on how hard it is for everyone.
Just three more miles to go. Part of me was like just go and run a three mile loop and call it a day. No one would know the difference- right?? But I would know. While I didn’t anticipate how tricky it would be to split the miles up the way I did, I also knew I didn’t set out to do something easy. It was meant to be hard. So I enjoyed a muffin and headed out for mile 14.
Mile 14 was rough. But honestly not quite as rough as mile 15. I was hot and tired. Mile 15 I modified the route because I just wasn’t sure I could do the hills in my neighborhood one more time.
Between miles 15 and 16 I said goodnight to my boys and tucked them in. Mile 16 was definitely the easiest of the last few because I knew it was the last one of the day. I felt so happy that I had accomplished my crazy goal. But it’s more than the miles. It’s that I used the Longest Day as an opportunity to bring others into the fold of the Alzheimer’s Association.
I started this journey to fundraise for the Alzheimer’s Association and as part of running the NYC Marathon. As it became more and more clear that the Marathon wouldn’t happen this year because of COVID-19 I had to shift my focus to cope with the loss of the race. Yes, I registered because I wanted to run the NYC Marathon (and I still will, just not this year!) but I registered because it is a way to bring awareness to Alzheimer’s and to honor my Dad. I’ve said it many times, while racing might be canceled the need to raise the important research dollars can’t take a pause, so I’m continuing my fundraising efforts.
Now that I’ve completed the Longest Day my attention is focused on what to do next. To complete the marathon training cycle and run my own race as my four year old suggested or just wait until next year. Stay tuned!!
