I went on an adventure to visit friends in San Diego and go to my friend's wedding San Antonio (the first one of my friends to get married!) last week, so I haven't keeping up on my posts. The trip was amazing and totally worth it. I got to see friends that I love love love love, spend a lot of time with my amazing boyfriend, and see a LOT of Texas country side in a road trip from San Antonio to Dallas. Did you know that there are over TWO HUNDRED Chili's locations in Texas? I literally think we saw one every mile.
Even though I managed to get in a 16 miler during my trip, the vacation left me feeling horribly under-trained and very nervous for this weekend's 18.3 mile run. So I did the best I could in training during the week and ate a good healthly meal, drank a lot of water, and got a lot of rest the night before. Saturday a.m. I woke up with butterflies in my stomach and headed out to meet the running group.
No matter the length of my runs, I always fall into the same pattern. I feel like I'm not getting anywhere for the beginning of the run, right up until I hit the halfway point. Once I get to there I start feeling pretty good, but I don't really hit my stride until I'm roughly 60% of the way in. From there on out, as long as it's a good run, I'm golden. I know I have more behind me than I do in front and my competitive edge comes out. Whether the route is 4 miles or 14, its always the same thing. It's amazing how mental physical activity ends up being.
Saturday was no different. It was an absolutely amazing run - thanks to the company of my friends that are training with me, the amazing weather, and the extra energy of delicious sports beans, we finished with smiles on our faces and (just a little bit of) extra energy.
Along the way during these long runs, we often have to scoot around pedestrians, block out comments from crazy Brookline residents, and motion "sorry!!!" to the oncoming traffic as we run in front of it. It's not fun. We don't try to be obnoxious, it's just that, when you've got your pace, it's so important to keep at it. Little up and downs really mess up your stride and can even seriously hurt you. I adjusted my stride quickly when training for my first half marathon and it triggered serious knee pain.
All the negative energy from the grumps we pass along the way can totally be outweighed by just one fan. So today I want to thank the man that stood in the middle of the street in Brookline as we ran by that was clapping and cheering us on, screaming "These girls are getting ready for April 19th!!!!!!!!!!!!" Little did you know that we were just coming up on mile 14 and that was exactly what we needed to hear to keep us going.
peace, love, and sports beans.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment