best run ever

Last Saturday I had a ten mile run on my training calendar, and all week leading up to it I was intimidated by the number. Double digits. Ten miles sounded very long and very difficult. When the weekend came, for a Saturday in February in Colorado, it was a super nice day for a run. Some of the others in the training group had their long run scheduled for Sunday, and my coach had said I could swap my weekend workouts to run with them if I'd like. I really didn't want one more day of mental anguish, so I decided to just go for it as planned on Saturday. 

I put off starting the run until late afternoon, having calculated the time I needed to have enough daylight to finish... if I finished. The workout instructions were to run the first seven miles very easy, then pick it up with descending splits for each of the last three miles. Well, three miles into the run at my very easy pace, I was still 'in my head' about how long and difficult this run was going to be by the time I got to TEN MILES. But somewhere in that third mile, I acknowledged to myself that I felt better than I had on the first mile. As I passed the halfway point, I thought 'Hey, this really is OK.' At mile six, I realized this run is totally doable, so I asked myself what was it that I wasn't trusting, earlier? My coach gave me the workout, she knows what I can do. I haven't had any pain during training so far. I've been running almost nine miles, why did adding a little more than one mile scare me so much? What didn't I trust? I had no answer. I kept running. 

During mile seven, I backed off my pace a bit to gear up for the faster final miles. A few minutes before starting that first faster mile, I knew that I was GOING to finish this run strong, with descending splits as directed. I picked up my pace a bit, ahead of the plan. Let's do this. 

Mile 8: HERE WE GO. Whoa, not that fast, you have to pick it up again for miles nine and ten! But holy moly, I feel great!

Mile 9: Ok, pick it up a little more now, GOOD - now hang on to this pace! Ugh, this mile is hard. But hey, I can do hard things, and I am DOING THIS.

Mile 10: GO!!! This is IT, strong finish! I picked up the pace again, I held on, and before I had time to process anything else that last mile was DONE, and I ran it at a faster pace than what I would run for a 5K.

I turned to start my cooldown. The sky over the mountains hovered in the faint yellows of early sunset. I couldn't help but yell to the heavens and everyone else in the park within earshot that "I DID IT!" I had run ten miles, getting faster each of the last three miles, NOTHING hurt, and I as I breathed deeply, I acknowledged that I actually felt fantastic. I started laughing and I burst into tears.

I'd love to tell you that I spent hours on full recovery and had perfect nutrition afterward. I did stretch, a lot, so that was good, and I had leftover rotisserie chicken, veggies and pretzels as my recovery meal - also good! But then we went to a birthday party for a friend, which turned out to be super fun, with great food and wine. I ate back all my calories and then some. Some days are like that. It doesn't mean I'm not a healthy person. It doesn't mean I'm not working toward my goals. I realize now that I probably should have eaten a little more post-run, because I was absolutely starving by the time we got to the restaurant. Noted. The day after that run, my legs felt good, I had a relaxing recovery swim, and just kept going with my training. 

Yesterday I ran eleven miles. I bested myself on the overall run, my pace descended for each of the last five miles and my final mile was twenty-four seconds faster this week over last. This is fairly common in early training, but even so, it's wonderful to see. I am very happy to tell you my post-workout eating improved immensely! Today I feel great, and I really am just so very grateful I can do this. It is truly a GIFT. 

I hope you are having a great healthy weekend. I'm coming up on my hard training week, so today will be spent relaxing and prepping to GO GET IT. You go get yours, too. ;)