I started this week knowing that my plans were to hit a personal running milestone by logging over 10 miles this week. Now, if you're already an avid runner, this may not seem like much, but considering I have NEVER been a runner in my life and by this I mean, I remember running 1.5 miles once in high school and thinking I had conquered the world. That was that until about 11 months ago, when I started running a few times a week with the c25k (Couch to 5k) program.
The c25k is a whole different animal in itself, but let me say right up front, I failed the program twice and then just adopted my own version before actually completing a 5k. But 11 months ago, I could barely run 100 yards before feeling like death and all I really wanted to do was run the local Firecracker 5k on the 4th of July. I failed that too. I ran less than 1/2 mile and started walking and finished very slowly walking. I was embarrassed and defeated, but not deterred. Well, only for a little while. I did go on to complete my first entire running 5k on Thanksgiving morning 2011 - yay SUMC Turkey Trot!
So, to say that running not only 10, 12, or even 14 miles this week, but 18 miles is a great source of personal satisfaction, it is a total understatement. I am beyond proud of myself especially since I started running, the most miles I've run in a week is 9. So, 18 is not too shabby. It was also the most days in a week that I have ever run as well.
But, this was not actually my only running accomplishment this week surprisingly. I had 2 more blogworthy items.
1. I did my first inclement weather run. Saturday morning, I ran in the rain in Salem. Now, granted, it was not pouring rain...that would just be crazy, but it WAS drizzly and somewhat heavier at times. Enough that it was raining in my eyes and I had to run with them closed a couple of times. Side note - not a good idea to run with closed eyes especially if your balance is not great. I shall run with my eyes wide open henceforth. However, rain running was awesome. I really enjoyed it - I never got hot and if I was sweating, which I'm sure I was, no one could tell and it was fun to splash in the occasional puddle. I highly recommend a rain run.
2. My third and proudest accomplishment was running my longest distance. I said after the Race to the Rocker 4 mile race that I felt, when I finished, like I could have ran forever. So, Saturday the initial course that was mapped out for us (me, AJ, and Megan) was 4 miles. When we got back to our starting point, none of us felt tired, so we just kept running (insert Forrest Gump joke here - I did). Then, at the end of 5 miles, we just kept running. By 6 we were back to our starting point, so we did not keep running - an hour and five minutes of running. But, I honestly did not feel tired...I felt like I could (you know the line) just keep running. The only pain/issue I have felt since the run is sore toenails, and that seems pretty minuscule in the big scheme of things.
This 6 mile run really boosted my confidence about the 1/2 and my next Saturday morning "distance" run. I also had 2 friends run in a 1/2 today (one's 1st and the other's 2nd) and I felt so excited for them but also jealous that I wasn't there and wasn't ready to compete. It's going to be hard to wait until October now, though I know there is much work for me to do. But, I do feel like I'm ready to see just how far I can run before my legs actually feel tired or overworked, but I also don't want to overdo it or have a bad run and get discouraged. I have always said that 3 miles was my so called breaking point and once I made it past that, I could go forever. I feel like there has to be another breaking point somewhere between 3 and 13.1 miles and if I was betting, I would put my money on 8, but only time will tell on that one.
So, it's been a good running week for me overall, and I'm sad for it to come to an end. I feel as if my fitness focus this week needs to be on running (of course), but more on strength training as I completely ignored that last week. I think it will be difficult for me to find a good balance between the two as training ensues and race day gets closer. But I can't ignore my muscles.
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