21 Miles!!!

I did it! I completed the 21 mile run and unbelievably did it quite comfortably! The course was absolutely beautiful. We started on the east side of the lake, ran around part of the lake and into some neighborhoods. We turned around at Good Latimer in Deep Ellum (this wasn't quite halfway). This is when I started feeling really hungry. I was worried this would ruin my run, but it didn't. I guess I'd rather be hungry than feel sick! From there, the course led us back through the neighborhoods and then we did a loop through a different neighborhood to make up some mileage since the turn around wasn't the half way mark. These neighborhoods were quite hilly! But it seemed ridiculously easy to me due to the fact that the hills I run in Fort Worth are ten times steeper. After this loop, we were back at the lake (west side). So we finished the loop around the lake. Once I hit the lake, I was feeling tired but very strong so I pounded it home. At this point, I couldn't stop till I was finished. Stopping at the water stops, even if just for a minute, makes starting up again painfull! I have my water bottle, so unless I need to fill up with water, I try not to stop. When I got to the last water stop I asked the Dallas coach that had been leading us how much farther it was. He told me less than a mile. I literally did not believe him. I thought he was playing a mean joke on me by saying it wasn't even a mile till the finish line. He was right though!

It was fun running in Dallas. They didn't have mile markers and I don't have a GPS watch so I literally didn't know how far we had run! At a water stop, I thought we were maybe between mile 4 and 5 but someone told us we were at the 6 mile marker. When I thought we'd only run 12, we were actually at 13.5. Knowing I only had 7.5 miles left at that point was amazing. It seemed so doable!

This was definately one of my strongest runs. This is also due to the fact that I took it a bit slower than normal. But these longs runs are about time spent on the feet not about finishing in record times. After I was finished, I ate a bowl of fruit (grapes, melon, strawberries, cantelope, etc.) they had provided for us. I was so hungry!! I'm not a huge cantelope fan but I scarfed those pieces down. Then I headed home -- oh and stopped at Starbucks before getting on the highway :)

I was pretty tired the rest of the day but not terribly sore. I did a short, slow 20 minute jog yesterday for recovery. Today I'm going to rest and let my body recover. This Saturday we have 15 miles -- this seems so short!!

This has definately boosted my confidence for the marathon. Knowing I made it that far and still felt like I could go further is a huge psychological advantage. 5.2 more miles definately won't be an easy feat, but I'm up for the challenge. Then I can get my 26.2 sticker :)

40 days till White Rock!!