9.5 Miles in the Bank!

Well I did it - I finished 9.5 miles.  It wasn't pretty, nor was it very fun, but I did it, the course I plotted out was from my house to my in-law's house.  The first three miles were brutal, up and down I thought my legs were going to blow out.  On top of that for some reason I decided that a very fast tempo run for 3.1 miles (9:14 pace) the night before was a good idea.  Needless to say, my legs were toasted before I even stepped out the front door.  Still I finished the course within the two hour time frame I gave myself so I'm pleased that this run is finished.



Before go any further I have to thank Beth for letting me go, and for picking me up at her parents.  It was totally unneccessary for her to do since she had all the kids, but I did appriciate it on her part.  I love you honey.

I did do some walking out on the course so I do have a long way to go before I'm ready for my half marathon but now I know where I stand and what I need to do before my May half marathon comes around.  But doing this run should help me mentally from this point forward.  Talking about the mental aspect - Beth happened to mention before hand, "You're not ready for that distance."  So of course, all I thought over the next two hours was "Maybe I can't do this."  Funny how things like this work in your brain, but it definately messed with my head.

I already mentioned that the first three miles were brutal, but after that it's pretty much a straight run downhill towards the ocean.  By the time I made it to this part, I was pretty toasted and I knew even then I was going to walk some more over the last six miles but I was ok with this since my real goal for this run was to finish and to finish under two hours.  I accomplished both when I rounded the last corner and saw Beth and Alex waiting for me, waving me on in the distance.  As I finished the final quarter mile they held up a finishing line between them - I was suprised how emotinal I started to get until I saw what they were holding between them - My father-in-law's old neck brace!  I couldn't help but laugh to myself as I 'broke' the finish.  Still it was a nice touch and I'm very happy to get a reception at my finish.  I can't remember the last time I had someone watch me run - usually when I'm running it's just me and my head.  Having them there was a nice touch.

Beyond yesterday's run, I'm currently at 17 consecutive days but we've got 6 days of rain coming in here off the Pacific.  It's going to be really hard running in the kind of rain that they are predicting, over three inches.  Still I think I'm going to try to cotinue the streak - I've started the month and year strong and I really want something I can 'hang my hat on'.  A solid running streak (30+ days) would make me feel like I've accomplished something towards that.

I've already mentioned that I ran a tempo on Saturday night - that was a mistake really.  That run was supposed to be an easy run, around a 10:00 min pace, but at the second mile marker I glanced at my watch for the first time - 19:01.  That made me pick up my pace when I should have started to shut it down knowing I wanted to attempt a 9 miler the next morning.  I finished in 28:35, just :31 seconds off a PB.  It was pretty effortless - I should be able to destroy this time when I'm ready to.

Today marks my first day of 'official' 10k training.  Three easy miles (9:40 - 10:00 pace) plus some strength training is being called out.  I should be able to do that without too much difficulty even if my ass is a little sore from yesterday's effort.  My longest run this week only calls for a 10k (a virtual race I signed up for - a sub 1:04:00 PB goal) so it looks like a pretty 'standard' week for me now. (approx 23+ miles.)

Keep Steppin'
Bob

PS My Chargers really stank it up yesterday,  I don't want to get any comments regarding their play, how much they suck, or that they are 'soft'.  My FB account is bad enough.  I'm still in mourning. :(