Today I was supposed to run 14 miles, and I had it planned down to the second. I was going to start at 6:30am - run 11 miles - and then at 8:20, Sarah was going to pick me up so we could run a 5k. Then I'd be done. Well... I woke up at 5:45 and it was pitch black and pouring rain. Running in the dark isn't too bad and running in the rain isn't the end of the world, but having them happen at the same time seemed dangerous. I waited for something to change, and eventually headed out, in the pouring rain, at 7:00 because I knew it would be light soon enough. Not to worry - I wore my safety suspenders!
I ended up running 7.5 miles, having to stop once to take my shoes off and ring out my socks (they were sopping wet). Then it was time to meet Sarah. Thankfully I brought some other clothes so I was able to put a dry shirt and socks on before the race. Even still, my hair was soaking wet - I'm sure people thought I looked pretty bad to only be starting a run (oh little did they know). The race was on the small side, but the course was nice, and it was a really great "change of scenery" for my long run. I didn't kill myself because I had been running, and still had to run more once the race was over, but I still gave it a good effort. I ended up finishing in 28:30 - a 9:12/mile pace!!! Awesome! Sarah was her usual cheetah self and ran 23:48 (7:41/mi). That's sick. Sick! Sadly there were even crazier cheetahs there and Sarah ended up coming in 4th in our age group. Since the field was small, I actually came in 6th!
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| 1st and 3rd place losers!! |
Then we headed to Sarah's parents' house for french toast breakfast. Holla!!! It was so good. After breakfast it was time to head back to the club so Sarah could teach her class - and I still had 3.5 miles to run. I was going to head back outside but as I was walking out I saw Lisa on the stair machine. Have I mentioned that I'm incredibly lucky that all of my friends run?? Lisa agreed to do the last part of my run with me, but so we wouldn't freeze and we could go different paces, we ran next to each other on treadmills. TREADMILLS!!! It is the first time I've run on a treadmill since probably January. They are so much harder.
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| Lisa, my treadmill partner in crime! |
Even still I got all 14 miles done. I obviously took some gigantic breaks along the way, but I don't feel too worried about it - I ran 13 straight last weekend so I know I could have done it. Plus it was fun to have three completely different experiences. My average pace for the entire 14 miles was 9:44/mi... I think I'm going to try to do my 20 miler next week at a 10 minute mile pace. I hope I can do it!
The rest of my day was pretty uneventful - took a MUCH needed shower and then went to the grocery store. I finally have food again! I'm going to make a real effort to have October be a healthier food month than September turned out to be. The next few weeks ahead are going to be very busy, so it will be tough, but at least I've set myself up for success as much as I can.
Total Miles Run: 299.9... I'm SOOOO close to 300!
Total Weigh Change: -4.1
Woot! You are so awesome Barbie. You are coming up on the 300 mile mark and you write about a seven mile run as if it's as easy as brushing your teeth. I am very inspired by you! And nice 5K time!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Nichi!! Wish you were here to run with me. :)
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