Recaps

I've been thinking a lot about my 7 miles, and what that says about me. I am strong! I am dedicated! I am proud of my miles! It was also hard at the end. I was not sure when I started if I was going to be doing a shorter run, focusing on speed or trying to go for high miles. I reminded myself that breaks and walking are ok, but that if I tell myself I'm going 7 miles then I will be going 7 miles. A strawberry shot blok or two later and I settled into my 4.0mph speed for a lot of miles. Hubs and I had driven to the gym together (we live a 5 minute walk, but the thunderstorms had been pretty bad so we chose to drive), and when he came to checkin after his workout I knew I would be there a while. A few miles in I got frustrated as I realized that the new songs I had added to my playlist weren't actually on my iPod and my legs were feeling heavy. I was angry, and tried to focus that on my running. It didn't work, but I reminded myself that I was committed to the 7 miles and could take a break if I needed, but that I was going 7 miles. Once I got towards the middle of my 4th mile I found another wind and got excited because I was feeling good. Unless something changed drastically, I would run 7 miles! I didn't drink any water, but I kept up on the shot bloks every 1/2 hour. As my miles got higher I didn't chew them because my stomach was feeling upset, instead I packed them into my lower lip and let them dissolve. It helped. 

The treadmills at the gym only let you go for 99 minutes, and I knew that I would need more than that for 7 miles. I was nervous about the time it would take me to stop, but stopped just around 5 miles. The treadmill wouldn't restart fast enough so I hopped to the one right next to me; you get your pick of machines when you're running at 8:30pm on a Thursday night. ;) During the 6th mile I thought I could keep going beyond 7, but the last mile kicked my butt. I started to get a cramp and get more nauseous, and started to think I might not make the last bit. I pushed on, turned up my music and enjoyed how far I had gone! It was 105 minutes after starting before I hit the 7.02 mile mark, but I felt great! My legs were jello! I could barely hold myself up to lean over and pick up my bag. If my drive was any further I would have had to call the hubs to come get me. I was that jelloed, and realized I would have to ice bath. Being a person that doesn't regulate temperature well, this was not something I had been looking forward to in my running career. Alas! The ice packs that hubs has to keep him cool on his commute for work turned out to work perfectly for my legs. 

I have decided that I am going to try to run a few more days per week, but just as a quick 1 mile run to work on my speed. My goal is to do a 12 minute mile with stretching before and after to get my aerobic strength and my speed up. 

There were a lot of races this weekend, and I can't wait to read a race cap from Mrs. Q the Running Duck.  It's been making me think a lot about my 1/2 and I just can't wait! Hubs and I are talking seriously about going to Disney in February for the Princess 1/2. It would be my first race vacation - woo! 

What races are you looking forward to? What goals are on your horizon?