Thoughts During a Long Run

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I ran my 15 miles (actually 15.1!) on Sunday. Holy cow, that was hard. I woke up at 5:30am, drove to a 10 mile trail near me, ran 15 miles, and then scrambled to get ready for church. I was only a couple min late. All before noon. Thankfully, I had pretty good weather. It had just stormed like crazy the night before and I chose a trail with shade this time, so it was kind of like running in a green house for the early part of the morning. My average was 11:15 per mile.. I ran for 2 hours and 50 minutes. I'm not sure if it's just the heat and humidity that is getting to me or if I might be getting anemic again (I had lots of trouble with this in college). Or maybe I just have higher expectation for myself than I should. But my half marathon time says that I *should* be able to run faster and that bugs me.

These were all thoughts that I actually had during my run:
  • (I usually wave or nod to fellow runners) I can't believe he didn't just wave back. That's kind of rude. No matter how tired he is, he really can't manage a nod? 
  • I can't believe those soccer moms just passed me. Maybe they are not running as far. 
  • 8 miles down. 7 to go. Crap. 
  • "Hey, I just met you.. and this is CRAZY!" Holy cow this is crazy. Why am I doing this? 
  • I've definitely seen that person before going the opposite direction. Wait, was that over 5 miles ago? Am I going faster or slower? ...I have no idea. 
  • (there were several big downed trees over the trail from the storm) I'm gonna climb through this HUGE tree. This is like exploring. I'm explorer runner Amy. So hardcore. 
  • (toward the end when I was really tired) I think that dude just waved to me and I didn't wave back. I'm a terrible person. 
Two more months until Chicago Marathon. I decided that this next weekend (17 miles!) I am going to church on Saturday night so I don't have to either get up even earlier OR feel bad for totally ditching church. There's part of me that kind of can't wait to be able to leisurely wake up on a Sunday morning and actually have time to curl my hair or something for church. 

It did feel pretty awesome to be done though. I got home after church and took a nap. I slept about an hour before I got a ding from my phone that James was online. He was also really encouraging and proud of me for running it. As hard as it was, I think I can do the 17 miles next weekend. 

And then in 2 months, I'll be able to buy a 26.2 sticker to go on my car next to the 13.1. 
this is my car btw. 
And after the marathon, there'll only be a couple months left of the deployment. And then James will be home and I will be able to truly relax. 

Comments

  1. BekahAugust 7, 2012 at 3:40 PM

    Hahaha I love your thoughts, they are of a true runner :) I especially like #4... did you see the YouTube video of USA swimmers to that song?! Hilarious. I'm impressed that you ran all 15 by yourself!! That's crazy awesome!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousAugust 7, 2012 at 8:11 PM

    Yeay for a new PDR! That's the best part of marathon training for the first time: something new to brag about almost every week! As hard as it is, don't worry about your long run pace too much. I ran my long runs slower during my second training cycle, and I ended up running that race faster. If you can run 15, you can run a full! So excited for you!!*

    ReplyDelete

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