Today was the big training day, the dreaded 10 miler! This was terrifying and exciting all at the same time. I was excited to see what my body was capable of now.
After a quick PB&J I hit the road. Greg had been out for 1 1/2 hours already, doing his 10 miler. I was excited to see him along the way.
The weather was beautiful. Not a cloud in the sky, temperatures in the upper 40s and about 10kts of NE winds. Not too shabby, especially after the wet and cold fall we've had so far.
The first 2 miles felt great. It was hard to slow my pace, but I tried to remember how much it would pay off in the long run. I saw Greg almost 1 mile into my run, as he had a little under 2 miles left in his day. It was so good to see him, and he look fairly happy for this distance. It gave me hope and encouragement.
The route we planned was to follow the path out from our house, 1.5 miles, come back and repeat 2 more times, then head back out 1/2 mile and turn around to head to the house. It sounded like such a good plan.
After 2 miles, the thoughts of how many more times I'd pass a certain corn stalk were creeping into my head. I started my mental countdown. I was obsessing over what I had left. If I could just get to 5 miles things would be better.
At 5 miles, things did get better. I don't know why, but once I pass the 1/2 way point, everything else seems so much easier. It's as if everything is now downhill. Don't get me wrong, it was still tough, but so much easier than miles 3 and 4.
The last 2 miles included a lot of grunting. It wasn't grunting for the sake of pain. It was grunting for the emotion of 2 more miles, 1.8 more miles, 1.6 more miles... I just wanted to be done.
At mile 9, I was just across the street from my house. It would have been so much easier to just go home, but no! I had to turn around and head out for another 1/2 mile, then back. That was a very hard 1/2 away from home.
I do feel good about being done with the 10 miles. It's only been 1.5 hours since the big run, so the runners high hasn't kicked in yet. We'll see if euphoria hits tonight. Right now, I just want to take a nap on the couch next to Greg (who is sleeping as I type).
Oh yeah, I ran it in 1 hour 47 min and 10 seconds.
1 comment:
Break out the marathon stick!
Wow, you guys did it the hard way by repeating your loop. I can't do that. Chickens and other shiny objects distract. Nice job to both of you. We're on the downhill slide and I can almost see those margaritas we'll have after it's over! Yay! One more long run and we're almost there!
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