10 miler

Saturday was a weird running day for me. I knew I had to get a 10 miler in per my half-marathon training plan. My first attempt at this started at 6 am. I managed 2.83 miles at 9:47 pace before being forced to return home for a bio-break. Once again, never eat the "homewrecker" from Moe's the night before a long run! So at that point I decided to push the long run back to Sunday morning. But once the family went down for naps Saturday afternoon and I found myself restless, I thought what the heck and got back out there. I ran a new route that was exactly 5 miles out, which was nice because if I had arrived home with another mile to go, then I'm pretty sure that last mile would not have happened. In my humble opinion, the 10 mile distance is what separates the men from the boys. It is also a distance that I underestimated on Saturday. I have a hard time coming to terms with the fact that I am in no way, shape, or form at a marathon capable fitness level. This time last year I was deep into my training plan for St. Jude's and I could run 10, 12, even 15 miles and not be sore the next day. NOT ANYMORE! Saturday's 10 miler was challenging to say the least. It didn't help that I did not prepare (leave water along the route) like I should have. My new 10 mile route was pretty hilly, but so is the new route for the Spinx half-marathon in October. No unchained dogs (sweet!), and it was very scenic.

So as I dragged myself up to the house and laid straight down on the floor, that familiar question came back to me..."Why do I do this?" As the initial shock of pushing past the comfort level that most people never venture from, thoughts of "this hurts" and "I won't be doing that again anytime soon" turned into thoughts of "it'll be easier next time" and "maybe I could have pushed a little bit harder toward the end." And then I thought, "That's why I do this, because I never want to stop searching to find just what I am capable of."

Playlist:

Phedippidations Episode 144: Moving to the Music
My G'N'R playlist featuring:
Rocket Queen
You Could Be Mine
Bad Obsession
My Michelle
Locomotive - my personal recommendation on this one for motivational running.
Breakdown
Nightrain