Foo Fighters got me through

I haven't been updating much, mostly because in the last couple of weeks, things have been super busy with work, school and training. I've been just keeping my head above water until the end of the semester (which is coming soon, but I have lots of things due until then). The good news is, the Lent thing has been successful so far, as I haven't had fries and I've been following the no meat on Friday rule (thank goodness I love fish/seafood).

However, today, I hit a milestone - my first 10 mile run. When I took up running almost a year ago, I never thought I would run anything more than a 5K, and here I am, training for a half marathon.

I did a 5 mile run on Wednesday, but it was on Thursday that I started freaking out a bit about doing 10 miles today. I had planned on doing nothing much on Friday night, because I wanted to go to bed early in order to get up at 6:30 on Saturday morning (and the fact that I've been wanting to sleep a LOT lately). Instead, I went to trivia that started at 9:30 and finally got to sleep after midnight.

My alarm went off at 6:40am and I finally rolled out of bed about 15 minutes later, which is a pretty good for me, as I tend to use snooze a lot. My goal had been to take in some food about an hour before my run, so I had an English muffin with some jam, and some Power Bar gel bites. I also took a GU out on the run with me.

Last week, I had run 8 miles, which included the normal 4 mile block, adding a neighborhood called the Pines (which adds about 2 miles) and once around the lake (2 miles). Today I had to go twice around the lake, which I felt a little concerned about, since it might end up seeming really long.

So, I got to the building for the group run and a couple of things happened that surprised me:

1) I was running/walking the longest distance of everyone there today (apparently, everyone else doing marathons weren't there), and
2) The running coach wasn't there today.

WHAT? I had to run 10 miles on my own? Minor panic ensues, as I realized that I was going to have to push myself along through the...entire...thing. In some ways, I was ok with it, because I tend to not like running with others because I feel like I slow them down. But, I knew it would help if someone were there to keep me going.

So, I set off, and was first out, but was soon passed by the 3 runners doing 6 miles today (they're at least a minute or two a mile fast than me). I felt pretty good, alternating between running 7 minutes and walking 1 minute. Once I got into the neighborhood, around 2.5 miles, I walked a little more than usual because of the hills. I also stopped for a quick drink of Gatorade at the first aid station.

When I got to the lake, I was feeling pretty good and at about 4 miles. There's a trail that's offroad that you have to go through in order to get to the other side of the lake, and it's had ice/snow on it the last couple of weeks, so I walked most of it. But as I got to the top of the hill, I had a cheering section. The two pugs that live at the house next to the trail were out in the yard, and followed me, barking as I ran by. Only one of them was around the second time I went by.

I also had to run past the high school track team, who was going the opposite way I was. But man, did they make me feel slow...twice. Other than that, I do like running around the lake, because it's fairly quiet. My music list was being weird too, as it kept playing the same songs even though I had it on shuffle...so there was a lot of Foo Fighters and Metallica, which worked out just fine!

After running the lake twice, I was just over 8 miles, and pretty much counting down in my head the remaining miles. I do this thing while I'm running where I break things down into small, doable parts, such as "get to that mailbox/light pole/sign/tree" and that helped a ton today.

At the end of the day, I was able to do 10 miles in 1:56:54. I was slightly faster this week than I was last week, which was surprising. At this rate, I should be able to do the half in less than 2:45, so that's what I'm shooting for at the end of April.

I'm getting closer to my running and my fundraising goal. For updates or to donate, check out http://pages.teamintraining.org/mi/nikewhlf13/angelaclock