Me vs. The Road, Part II: Me - 1, Road - 1

The Road didn't even see it coming.

On Sunday I set out for a solo 14 mile run. Saturday I'd starting to come down with something, and on Sunday I woke up feeling like total crud. Dragging myself out of bed on Sunday felt like a monstrous effort, so I did not have particularly high hopes for my run. I just hoped that I'd be able to at least finish it, even if I had to walk several miles. Mindful of what happened on my last run, I armed myself with a veritable arsenal of water and sport beans and GU before I left the house. Coupled with my multiple articles of clothing that I took along because I wasn't sure what the weather would be like, I think I looked like I was about to go trek Mount Everest instead of just go for a run around the park.

Eventually myself and my 30 pounds of gear arrived at the park, and I decided I needed to just start running before I had a chance to think about how much the next two and a half hours of my life were about to suck. The park where I run has a four mile outer loop and three mile inner loop, so my plan was to run the four mile outer loop twice and the three mile inner loop twice. I set out on my first four mile loop, deliberatly going slow and telling myself not to get my hopes too high because I know the first loop for me is always the most difficult. The first part of the loop was, unfortunately, directly into the north wind. But once I turned and had the wind at my side, I settled into a pretty comfortable, albeit slightly slower than normal, pace. Much to my surprise, the first four miles were easy, and after a quick stop at my car for some sport beans and a drink, I started out on the next four mile loop.

I told myself at this point it wasn't going to get any worse, because this was the last time I'd have to run directly into the north wind for any significant distance. It turned out I was wrong about that, but it was a comforting thought at the time. I kept expecting for the cramps or the pounding sinus headache to begin again, but they never did. The second four miles was just as easy as the first, and I even picked up some speed along the way. At my second break, I grabbed a vanilla GU and some water, and then started off on the first of two three mile loops.

I had thought that the three mile loops would be a little sheltered from the wind, because they are lined by trees and wind through the middle of the park for the most part. I was wrong. And I think the wind had picked up by that point in the afternoon. But I wasn't about to turn around and go back to the car and spend time fussing with my layers, so I just kept on going and figured that eventually the wind would be at my back again and I'd warm up. After mile 9, I could feel my stomach start to cramp on me a little. Having a head cold was bad enough, so I just thought to myself "no, I am not going to put up with THAT today, so you can just knock it off." And to my surprise, my stomach did knock it off. Turns out that miles 8-11 were the fastest that I'd run so far, and I wasn't even remotely tired when I stopped at my car to grab one last drink before the last three miles.

Back into the wind for another mile and a half or so, and my mind is really wandering at this point. For the first time, even though I've never noticed it before, I realize that somone has graffitied the words "follow your heart," "dream big," "push yourself," and "believe" at various points along the running path. I start to think about that for a minute, then look at my garmin and realize that I've run 12 miles already. I think to myself that during the half marathon, this is the point where I'm really going to want to push it, and decide that I feel good enough to push myself to race pace for at least a mile. Much to my surprise, race pace comes easily and at 13.1 miles I have this thought:

"Congratulations - you've just run a half marathon. AND YOU'RE NOT TIRED."

So I kept going at race pace until I completed my last loop and had finished 14 miles. No hip pain. No stomach cramps. Not a single step walked. I GAINED speed along the way. I defeated the road.

Top 10 things I learned along the way?
1. It's good to have a complete day of rest before a long run.
2. I can still run well even if I have a cold.
3. Having a new playlist helps.
4. I can gain speed over the course of a run if I'm careful about conserving energy at the start.
5. Blue sport beans are good, and BONUS - just happen to be my favorite color.
6. After 8 miles of running I'm just delusional enough to think that a vanilla GU tastes like a tasty ice cream treat.
7. Sometimes it pays to read the graffiti along the path.
8. It's frightening what I think about during a long run when I don't have real people around to talk to.
9. I'm perfectly capable of running a half marathon.
10. And, most importantly - having one bad run does NOT mean that my training is failing or that every run after that will be also be bad.