I Will Survive

I survived my 16 mile training run today.  It was not sunny and warm like they said (boo hiss) although I was still able to get away with shorts so it was warm enough.  I decided to run a course that I'd never done before - thinking this would help with my horrible mind which gets the best of me when I know the routes.  We're kind of limited as to where we can run here in the country so I know most of the roads like the back of my hand.  Anyway, started out strong, probably a little too strong, but I felt good.  Hit a few hills which was nice and shitty at the same time... it was a tough run for Ohio and I'll remember that in the future.  I was definitely challenged.

My splits were:

8:27

8:29

8:26

8:36

8:55 (the first substantial climb for me)

8:42

8:27

8:57 (the next few miles were pretty good rollers and a new road for me to run on)

8:39

8:49

8:47

9:03

9:13

9:12

9:19

9:34

Total Run Time - 2:21:33

Average Pace - 8:51

I totally can't complain about that, in fact, I'm super thrilled with it!  A couple of things happened that were not so great.  First, I got a blister and could really feel it about mile 8.5.  Around mile 10, my left quad started to tighten up and I really had a hard time from there.  I knew that my pace was getting considerably slower and that frustrated me a bit.  I saw a few bikers out on the roads, one walker and possible 3 cars total.  In 2+ hours.  It was lonely.  Tom came up to me after my run (He was biking and I didn't do a phenomenal job of mapping out my course, as I was .40 of a mile from home when I hit 16 and just walked it out).  I started crying when Tom came up to me.  I don't know if it was because I was just done, mentally and physically, or if I was a little frustrated with how I felt the last few miles. I know training runs aren't supposed to be easy and I remembered that when I was in my last few miles.  It's just me and the road.  I'm sure I'm not drinking as much as I should be or would in a race since I don't carry a bottle and have them strategically on the course, although only 3 times.  I'm not chasing people down who are in front of me to take my mind off the time and the starts of my aches and pains.   I'm not running to crowds cheering and the thrill of the finish line, but...

I freaking ran sub 9:00 miles for 16 miles.  What could I possibly be upset about???

NOT A DAMN THING!

I'm off to relax, rub these sore legs down and get a good night's sleep!