Soaring Through Sixteen!

Sixteen miles was on my things to do this morning and I knocked it out of the park! Like any of my other runs so far - I went into it without thinking too much of what I needed to do. Just another run ... no big deal. With this strategy, I am able to dodge any of the negative anticipation. Any athlete knows that when you are mentally defeated, you can forget about your physical game. Anyway, Chris and I are in Louisville visiting his family. His aunt is also a runner so she took me around Seneca Park last night to show me a good running route. Weaving in and out of the Seneca Park golf course, running around the leaf-changing trees and along side the rushing streams made for a beautiful run. Not to mention the park was overflowing with runners and bikers, which is always an added bonus for me when I set out on a long run. It's great motivation to be with people who have similar goals as you. Weather here was perfect for running, mid to upper 60s and overcast. I had Chris' iPod on my arm but I ended up not even wanting music today. I was occupied enough taking in the scenery, enjoying the weather and people watching. :-) Those kinds of runs are the most relaxing and mentally fulfilling to me.

Of course I experienced the aches and pains with any long run but all in all, I felt awesome. I did encounter some hills during the route but they were enough to make for a good challenge yet not unbearable. My sister sent me the elevation map for the Baltimore half and miles three through 10 looks to be a steady uphill, with very steep parts, so running hills is vital during training. Can't hide from the inevitable. I averaged nine minute miles, which is a pretty good day for a long run especially having never ran that far before. At times I looked down at my Garmin and I was running under eight minute miles but there were those times, too, when I was well over nine minutes. I'd have to average 8.20 minute miles to qualify for the Boston Marathon. That's not something I am training to do but if it happens - I'll be ecstatic. If not, then I will know how to improve to get there. I don't think it's out of reach since I always pick up my pace significantly during races versus when I'm training. Regardless, it's a definite goal of mine to reach at some point throughout my running career.

After my long run today, I went straight to Smoothie King for my post-workout meal. I ordered a Slim-N-Trim Chocolate Smoothie (skinny). It had 15g of protein about 25g or so of carbs. Sounded like a pretty decent snack for recovery.

Anyway ... Thursday I fit in six miles after work, running the first few with my oldest sister. Then, Chris and I left at 4:30 the next morning to drive to Louisville. I think I hit my max daily caloric intake before noon, so needless to say I was not very good to my body yesterday. When we finally made it to his parent's house I worked on some core and did some squats. I even had a few beers last night so don't let anyone tell you that they can't drink because they have to run! :-) I'm sure everyone works differently but I sometimes run better if I had a few beers the night before. To each his own I guess.

Tomorrow I plan on running a light two to three miler. We'll see how my legs are holding up though. For now, I'm going to rest a bit but I wanted to leave you with an interesting fact. I'm reading Women Who Run by Shanti Sosienski. It was lent to me recently. I'll be sharing some of the excerpts because it's a great read, but I found this particular piece of history surprising.

DID YOU KNOW? It has only been roughly 35 years since women could legally run in marathons in the United States. Race officials would yank females off the course if they were to run alongside the men during a race. We've come a long way, wouldn't you say? "In 2005, of the 383,000 people who finished marathons around the country, 40 percent were women." (Women Who Run, pg. 1) GO WOMEN! :-)

Happy training!!