I had my long run this morning. I was supposed to go out for 9 miles but since I did that already last week, I thought I'd step it up and go out for 10. I haven't run 10 since the Cleveland Hermes 10-Mile race back in April but I was feeling ready. My knees were/are still whining a bit, but it's something I've almost become accustomed to. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing! Anyway, when I got up this morning, I wasn't feeling particularly ready to head out for 10, but with one baby step at a time, I got myself out there. I'm so glad I did. Once I got going, I hit 2 and 3 miles before I even knew it. While the path was familiar, I had never gone 5 miles out, so I was curious as to what was out there. I felt my pace was pretty quick, but my breathing still felt good, so I went with it. I had a good Podrunner tune pumping out some techno/house beats which was cool too. I did a few air drum solos while nobody was looking. :-) I was totally feeling in the zone -- like I could go on forever! The weather was great too. It was warm but there was a nice breeze. There were a lot of people out too which was nice which is in stark contrast to the first few runs I took on the bike path back in February. I actually thought, "Well this is good. At least now if something happens to me, there'll be people around to hear my screams." LOL! Actually, everyone out was really nice. I think I said "good morning" to every person I passed by or at least gave the nod. I swear, there's like this secret understanding between people who are out on the paths, courses, and trails across America. We are all part of an unspoken community of people who truly appreciate the awesomeness of becoming one with the nature around us... I digress!
Anyhow, before I knew it, I had passed the 4 mile point where I usually turn around. ***Entering uncharted territory! Dun, dun, DUUUUUN!*** The funny thing was, shortly after passing into the foreign zone, I realized, it wasn't so foreign after all. After about another 3/4 mile, I swear I recognized the place. Finally, as I came close to reaching the 5 mile turn around, I came up to a cross road and immediately saw a sign for a park I used to go to all the time! I remember riding my bike on those very paths when I used to live in my old apartment! I couldn't believe I had really run that far! That truly just baffled me for awhile. I mean, I remember running 3 miles and thinking I could never do 5. It just seemed SO FAR! Now here I was knocking out 10, running clear across town and into the next one, and I was barely feeling tired! I swear, I think once I got used to doing those higher miles, I forget how far it really is! 5 miles is not too shabby! Anyhow, I was psyched to see my old trail and even more psyched to know that I had basically run across the entire town to get to it. The only thing next was, I had to run back across it!
I was so pumped after seeing how far I had gone out though, the 5 miles back was great! I even think I sped up the last 2 miles. I had to keep telling myself to slow down! My knees tried to tell me too. My right knee was really yelling at me during the last half mile. Anyhow, I ended up having an awesome 10-miler -- I had a fast pace that felt good, the weather was warm but breezy, everyone out was really nice...awesome! Afterwards, I got back home and mapped out my run on MapMyRun.com and actually found out that I did 10.5 miles. Cool! I did a little Namaste Yoga, and iced the knees. I just wish they all felt that good!
No comments:
Post a Comment