12 Miles - Reflections

Well, i have survived! Saturday marked our longest group run (and longest run i have ever done) - 12 miles. I knew if i was able to make it through this run, i would be a lot more confident about the 1/2 marathon.

I had my fuel pack loaded with water & shot blocks, and had downloaded a few new songs for my workout playlist. I kept a positive mind, and it was off to the canal i went. It was still dark when we started and cool, but it felt good once we got going. My legs gave me no problems, which was an amazing relief. And when i stopped to meet Coach Dave at the 4-mile mark, i felt great!

It was off to the Arcadia district, an area with nicer homes which was fun to look around. I started to take some more frequent walk breaks here, as the shot blocks hadn't quite kicked in and i was losing steam. Once i got some energy back, i had a pretty strong run to Coach again, and then it was back out to the canal to finish the last 4 miles.

Here's where i seemed to hit some sort of wall. After mile 9, i stopped to use the bathroom. i think that was the kicker - those last 3 miles were killer!!! I could barely manage to run 10 minutes, before i'd need to take another walk break.

But you know what? I did it. I finished the run - and finished with a smile on my face. Even though i didn't straight on run the full 12 miles, i still did the distance and felt good afterwards!

Just thinking back to when i started training and how I thought i would never, ever be able to do this - it's cool to think about how far i've come.

PF Chang's Rock & Roll Half Marathon - bring it.

PS. Good God was i sore the next day!!