Halfway There!

Today I did 14 miles.  This is the farthest I have run in 7 years.  And just like Lord Voldemort (Yes, I'm a Harry Potter geek), I'm back.  I finally feel connected to running again - mentally, spiritually, and physically.  Granted, it wasn't the best running time I've done (3 hours, 25 mins.  - Yikes!) since I'm still only doing a 3 minute run/2 walk interval, but hey, I got through it.  And I didn't mind. 

We started off with our coach Bert giving us a lesson in interval training to increase our speed.  We did 3 laps of running as fast as we could to a fixed point, and then jogging back at a moderate pace to the starting line.  I have to admit, I didn't care so much for that part because I thought I was going to hurl a lung after the third lap.  But, he did give us an excellent tip that helped me throughout today's run - he said that if we wanted to increase our speed, to use our arms and kick them on the backswing to help propel us forward.  So I have to say, that really helped me a lot, especially on the hill we did and towards the end of my run when I had nothing left.  Whenever I started to feel tired, I just thought about using my arms more and it really pushed me forward with not as much effort with my legs. 

So note to self:  Yes, you do need at least 3 flasks of liquid for your fuel belt (I just brought 2 because I was lazy and thought I'd refill when need be which was really inconvenient)  and yes, I should have brought another goo (I brought 2)  because quite frankly, I'm not running as fast as I used to (yet!) and this was a long frickin' run. 

And I'm happy to say, that I am looking forward to my next long run.  I am looking forward to having time for me and only me, to checking in with my girls as we train together (ahem, Lynnette and Sarah - that's right, I called you out.  ;),  and to forgetting the physical labor of it all and just enjoying being out there and taking it all in. 

And as always, thank  you all so  much for reading my blog, and for your generous donations, especially to Jason Fong for his donation this week.  Love you all and 'til next time!