Negotiations

My body catches on quick to what's happening. I'm trying to be all nonchalant about it.

"Hey, we're only out for a nice casual 12 mile run, don't worry, we can even go slow."

"TWELVE MILES IS ONE AND A HALF MILES LONGER THAN YOU'VE DONE ALL YEAR."

"Yeah, I know, but we're not even at mile 5 yet. We usually do at least 6 each time we go out, and you don't have a problem with it."

"WHAT DID I HEAR YOU SAY EARLIER? IF THIS GOES WELL, YOU'LL SIGN UP FOR FIRETRAILS. YOU DO KNOW THAT'S IN A WEEK AND A HALF."

"C'mon, it'll be fine."

"LOOK, YOU'VE BEEN EASY ON ME, I'VE BEEN EASY ON YOU, WHY THE HELL DO YOU WANT TO CHANGE THAT?"

"It'll be a good time, isn't it always?"

"A GOOD TIME? DON'T YOU REMEMBER THE DEATH MARCH ON OUR FIRST 50K???"

"Hey, we got to see the sunrise and the sunset in the Headlands. That was nice, no?"

"OUR LAST MARATHON, WE WERE REDUCED TO A SHUFFLING PILE OF INFLAMMED JOINTS AND QUIVERING MUSCLE."

"4:45 wasn't that bad of time, considering how slow we were. Hey, if we do that twice, we can get a sub 11 hour 50 mile finish, easy."

"DON'T YOU REMEMBER WHAT IT'S LIKE NOT TO HAVE CARTILAGE UNDER THAT KNEE CAP????"

"Owwww! Geeze stop that. You haven't done that in months, what's going on?"

"AND HOW ABOUT THIS? REMEMBER WHAT DEAD QUADS FEEL LIKE? OR CRAMPING CALVES???"

"Yeow! Ok, but it's almost 90 degrees, and we haven't eaten anything today. We probably just need calories and electrolytes. Thanks for the reminder, I'll be better at it on race day."

"HAHA! NO YOU'RE GOING TO WALK THIS RUN IN."

"No, we can do this, stop being silly. Ok, I promise we'll take a break tomorrow. An easy short run? And next week, just casual runs, ok? We'll walk to the water fountain and then run."

"DON'T BE STUPID, YOU REALLY THINK YOU CAN DO 40 MORE MILES OF THIS?"

"Look at SD100. We shuffled a good 55 miles of that after the knee went early."

"BUT WHY DO YOU WANT TO DO THIS?"

"Look, we've been rather comfortable, don't you miss that sense of adventure? Saying what the hell, and doing something unreasonable, knowing there's not going to be any shame in failure, but hoping that with perseverance we can end the day heroically?"

"WHY NOT JUST DO THE MARATHON. THAT'LL BE HARD ENOUGH. MORE THAN TWICE THIS RUN."

"Yeah, what if I get to the finish line and realize, hey we could have done this twice, easy!"

"YOU'RE CRAZY. YOU'RE GOING TO DESTROY THE KNEE."

"We don't need another shirt. And that wine glass will probably just be dropped some day. It's only $15 more to sign up for the 50 miler. Look, just get me to Lone Oak, and we'll plan on DNFing with dignity there. Maybe we'll feel ok, and decide to make an ultra of it."

"LONE OAK? THAT'S IT?"

"That's all I expect, everything else is bonus. Lone Oak."

"ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO DO THIS?"

"No. Let's decide tomorrow. We're almost done."

"I LIKE HOW YOU'VE NOT BEEN RUNNING ANY HILLS."