The 13 miler

Due to circumstances of a busy life, and an upcoming vacation, I was forced to do my long run on Thursday. It actually worked out. Felice was able to run on Thursday morning, since both her kids are in school at that time. And I took the morning off from work and we headed out about 9:15.

Back when I was marathon training, I did a LOT of my long runs on Friday mornings. This run reminded me of that. I always enjoyed getting the long run out of the way before the busy weekend.  There is something really awesome about having that run done and not taking away from family time.

For some reason, I was kind of nervous about this run. I wasn't feeling all that well on Wednesday and I think I was plagued with a migraine. When I woke up Thursday morning, my head still felt kind of fuzzy and foggy. I took some Advil and hoped the run would kick the headache out of me.

We headed out at 9:15 and ran about 3 miles with Karyn and Danielle. They were only planning to do 5 miles, so they turned around, and we continued on. The route Felice planned out was hilly. And really hilly. With some rolling hills thrown in for good measure.

We trucked along, and I knew it wasn't going to be my finest run. But, that's okay. We plugged along, and when we got to a big hill, we walked. For some reason I was also having a little trouble with my breathing.

We kept on, and we stopped a few times for water. Once, at a random gas station, and once at the library. (Felice looped the parking lot at the library while I ran in for water.)

We finished and I ended up with 12.6 miles and Felice ended up with 13. Our time: 2:01. When I saw that, I was surprised. We were clipping along at a fast pace. Even with the hills. So, as crappy as I felt during the run, it gave me a confident feeling that I can run the Hudson Mohawk in less than two hours. I am fairly confident that I will do it. But - I don't want to jinx myself - so I am going to pretend that I didn't write that.

I will probably have time to squeeze in one more double digit run before the half. I am so excited. I want it to be here now. I feel ready. Sub-two hours...bring it on!