I've been waiting for this week for MONTHS! Not necessarily the week we were to run 17 miles or the fourth weekend in April. Just the week where it finally felt good to run a long run. I was hoping our oldest daughter could take our carpool this week so we could head out a little later but no such luck. She couldn't swing it so we went with our only other option: wake up SUPER early and get it done before carpool. We have to be in the car by about 7:20 so we got up at 3:45 so we could be out the door by 4:00. It's funny. When I plan training runs, even though I run faster now than I did when I first started running, I still calculate the same pace when I plan a run.
3:45 my alarm goes off. Are you KIDDING me?! I can sense my husband is having the same relationship with his alarm. Really? It's already 3:45. We'd slept in our running clothes so we could sleep a few minutes longer and get out the door faster. Roll out of bed, hit the bathroom, shoes, contacts, pull hair back, fill hydration vest, eat banana. Watch out 17, here we come. This spring has been interesting. It's late April and I still haven't run a long run in short sleeves. When does that happen? This week. And it was dark too. Short sleeves, capris, no jacket, no sunglasses. Anyway, we headed out and soon hit our stride. I really do love the peace of running early in the morning but I kind of dread knowing I have hours to run in the dark. The run was pretty uneventful. Mile after mile passed. We fueled at miles 6 and 12. That long hill, the one that has kind of been kicking my butt every week, it was okay this week. About six-ish miles into our run, my body decided it was time to think about hitting a bathroom. This particular course has them periodically but we'd just passed one about a mile and a half before. I figured I'd be okay for awhile. I'd have to be. When we started down the last hill on the Parkway, my body let me know that it had made it's decision. The time was NOW! I knew we had about two miles to an open restroom. The only thing I could do was run so we did. I will admit there were moments I almost didn't breathe for fear my body was going to protest. I'm happy to report, because I know this is why you read this blog, that I made it! I want to say this was around mile 12. The sky was starting to lighten but our pace was really quite good and we were both much happier now that we'd had a pit stop.
As our miles continued to climb, our bodies started to grump a bit. About a mile and a half from home, I asked my husband what our pace was. He said, "Not good." I kicked it up and so did he. We finished the last mile strong and with about a half an hour to spare before we had to be taking carpool.
Spring training has been strange this year. Many times I've trained in the spring but it's never been quite so cool or unpredictable. It's a good thing I have plenty of things to layer up. I've learned to run with toilet paper. Just in case.
Thanks for checking in with me again. I hope you are doing well and progressing toward your goals. Let me know if you have any questions or comments. Happy running!
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