12 miles in 1:58:50

Yesterday, Monday, was long run day. I knew I’d be going for 11 or 12 miles. As soon as I hit the stairs to go down for breakfast I realized the ball of my right foot was hurting. I planned on walking it off. I knew it was because I had a busy weekend and was on my feet a lot. Correction I was either on my feet or I was sitting down cramped up in an auditorium. I also wore my dress shoes all weekend, they are comfortable shoes but aren’t very good recovery shoes from my hard run on Friday. So long story short the time came to go for a fun and my foot was hurting. I think I could have run on it and been ok but with the race less than 2 weeks away I wasn’t taking chances. It didn’t help that the wind was more than 20 mph outside and it was cold and rainy. Just didn’t seem like a good day for a run.

So I went to the gym for 6 miles on the stationary bike and chest and biceps in the weight room. It was a good workout. All day I kept worrying about running though. My mind kept asking weird questions -what if you don’t run tomorrow? What if you just stop running? What if you gain weight from not running?- it was this weird obsessive thing. I felt like I had fallen off the wagon but in reality I was listening to my body and that was a good thing.

So this morning I was ready for my run. I had planned to do 8 miles, mostly because I just didn’t feel like doing more. As soon as I clipped off my first mile I started adding miles to my daily goal and before mile 3 I knew I was going to do 12 miles today. I took the first 6 miles to just enjoy my thoughts; when things came to mind I would pray for them, or thank God for them. It was one of the better times I’ve had with myself and God in a while. I kept getting this overwhelming sense of love from no one other than God himself. I know that won’t make sense to some people; so often in life I get busy “trying” and I forget why I’m trying or what I’m trying for. I love that I can run, I love that I’m healthy enough and I love that it’s something I enjoy. I think it’s the healthiest thing I’ve done; it’s my healthiest habit. I enjoy the time to sort out my thoughts.

The weather was great- 50 degrees with a 17 mph wind. The wind wasn’t a big deal. Most of the run it was blowing from either my left or my right. Occasionally I would get it in my face but I just used it as a reminder to keep my shoulders up and relaxed. The funniest part about running in the wind is that the sweat on your face and clothes dries much faster so you’re literally drying out as you run. When salt stains start showing up on my face and clothes I know I’ve been running in the wind.

I started struggling at mile 10; I wonder how much of that is physical and how much of that is mental? I knew I was only 2 miles from my goal and I knew I had it in me to finish the 12 well.