7 miles...Did I, Or Did I Not.......

I did!!!

Saturday morning I woke up with my husband around 7-sh. He was leaving for work and I poked my head out of the covers to kiss him goodbye. It was then that I realized it was freakin cold. It was like 65 degrees or something close to that freezing temp! Living in SW Florida is supposed to guarentee WARMness. But it does get chilly now and then during the winter months. You'd think having lived 36 years in Boston would make me "ok" with 65 degrees, but no. I hated to be cold there, I hate to be cold here.

I put a long sleeved t-shirt on under my 2008 Sarasota Grouper Marathon shirt and hit the street. I was hoping that by wearing this shirt, my body would remember that we've run major distances together in the past and maybe trick it into thinking 7 miles wasn't nuthin but a thang.

I had a bagel with peanut butter, orange juice and of course 2 cups of coffee before this run. Figured I'd be waiting for the sun to warm up before I ventured out anyway. I took some Aleve and some B-12. I wound up waiting until 9am. I had 3 glucose tabs in my zipper pocket, already halved and NOT in any protective cover (such as a baggie) so I could grab them easily while running. I had thought it over long and hard about water/gatorade stops and decided against it. I was only planning on running for 80 minutes or so and it wasn't 95 degrees out. I felt comfortable skipping hydration. I pass stores and a field that has a bubbler too, so opportunity would be there if need be.

I got about 1.5 miles out and was wishing I skipped the t-shirt. By the time I hit 2.5 miles I was pretty hot. I slowed to a fast walk, reached up under my top and ripped my t-shirt right down the middle. then I pulled it out through my sleeves. Right on Sumter Blvd....ha! I felt so much better! It felt as freeing as I imagine the bra burning 60's were for my parents' generation!!!

I was feeling pretty good after that. So good in fact, that when I glanced at Garmie I saw that I was at 4 miles. I meant to turn around at 3.5. I also noted I was out 41 minutes, pleased with that pace!! I turned around and continued on. I did some walking breaks...about 30 seconds maybe 3-4 times. By the time I saw the bridge (my visual that I've got 2 miles left to the end) I was really feeling the muscle fatigue. Disappointed, I peeked at Garmie and was SO SURPRISED to see I was actually at 6.32 miles!! By running half a mile further out, it shaved a whole mile off my brain! WOW! I love these kind of mind games I play with myself.

My hips and behind my knees were pestering me a little but if my calculations were correct, I could run into the middle school at the tennis court gate and finish mile 7 right at the bubbler! I tried to kick it up a notch but I could only hold at 9:45 pace. No worries! I got to the bubbler at 6.93 miles...HAHA!!!...so I ran past it (looking at it longingly) and kept going until I heard the beep signaling 7 miles. Then I turned around, walked to the bubbler and drank for about 5 full minutes. I had a mile and a half walk home from there. Perfect cool down!!

So I did 7 miles in 71:12. I think that was an average pace of 10:15...I'm am happy with that. This is the longest run I've done in 9-10 months!! It gives me such hope to do a half in March. I promised myself if I could get an 8 miler in by Nov 21st, I'd begin serious training for the Sarasota Half. I have been trying a few things with my diet, B-12 and glucose tabs. The muscle cramping/fatigue is still happening, but I can get through these longer runs now! I also do not run until the twitching/cramping slows to a dull roar. If I need a 2-3 day recovery, so be it. If I need to run 2-3 miles instead of 5-6...fine. I see that I need to be flexable if I want to continue running. We may never find out what the muscle problem is, I don't plan on hanging around, wasting away while we figure it out.

My brother-in-law's injuries are healed and we did an easy 2 mile trial run Friday night. It went very well. He felt that his cardio and endurance had slipped a bit by taking 2 weeks off, but I know he'll get that back very easily. He has plenty of time to catch up and get into training for that half. I was worried he'd stop running since he had to take 2 weeks off so early into starting but he's back! YAY!