Friday, May 4, 2012

The Last Longish Run

This past Sunday, I ran an awesome 9 miles in the morning before church. My workout was supposed to be 60-80 minutes easy and then the last 15 minutes push the pace to between 1/2 marathon and 10k pace.

It was 7:15am, Gregg and I started running from Peakland UMC parking lot, ran to Boonsboro Shopping Center parking lot, and met up with 4 other guys from Gregg's running buddies.

I hung with them for another mile, and then stayed loose and slow and they took off ahead.

After about 7 miles, I turned the pace up. I ran at about a 7:35 pace for mile 8, and then dropped a little faster to 7:30 for mile 9.

At about mile 8.5, I saw the guys again...they had run out farther than me, where as I was doubling back on my course, so I hadn't seen them since mile 2.

I heard some encouraging words from a few of the guys:

Lookin' good speedy!

and

Lookin' strong!

I finished back at the Peakland parking lot, where Gregg was waiting for me.

He looked proud. 

It made me feel good that he was standing there waiting for me. The following conversation ensued:

Me: I HAVE to go to the bathroom...maybe in those trees over there.

Gregg: You can't, it's a church.

Me: Let's go to Starbucks, quick.

Gregg: Ok.

Me: Hurry!!!

Gregg and I headed to Starbucks. He ordered the coffee and I headed to the bathroom to (well, you know...)

A local runner girl stopped me after I grabbed my coffee (yes, I washed my hands). She wanted to talk about my workouts. She said she needed to start doing that kind of stuff and wanted to do it with me maybe...I was flattered.

I mean me? The girl who used to be horribly inconsistent? She wanted to run with me?

It was a neat feeling. We talked about doing some workouts on the track and longer runs with tempos in the middle this summer. Granted, we all know I have to take a little time off after this marathon, but I can't wait to get started!

Best part is I have the most amazing running calendar for the upcoming year!

June: Chicago Women's Half Marathon

August: Hood to Coast Relay where I'll get to spend time with my friend Sarah who blogs here.

November: New York City Marathon Are you kidding me? Is this REAL?!

Can't wait to keep you posted!

1 comment:

  1. I have you to thank for inspiring me to start running. I'm just a casual runner, but it's no surprise you are an inspiration to many. Love you and good luck!

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