Halfway there

I ran 14 miles yesterday. I RAN fourteen miles yesterday!! Just had to say it twice. If I hadn't been there the whole time I wouldn't believe it. This is a major accomplishment for me. Six months ago I thought 5 miles was a lot. I still think that's far enough, but yesterday, I nearly tripled that. Whoooo! 

I wasn't looking forward to my run yesterday at all. I was looking forward to being done with it. Last week was a rough on for me. Windy conditions paired with inadequate nutrition made it hard for me to fulfill my miles and by the time Sunday came around, I didn't have much confidence left. I made up a list of excuses why I shouldn't run, weighed the pros and cons and decided that it wasn't a great idea.

I went anyway. The first mile was the hardest. The second mile was hard. I kept wanting to turn around, saying to myself, "If I turn back now it'll only be a few miles, I can handle that." Then I started thinking about how crappy I would feel if I just quit, turned around, gave up. I couldn't handle that, so I forced myself to start thinking posotively. If self doubt took over, I wouldn't make it and I would have to accept defeat. I decided not to let that be an option. I started thinking of how great it would feel to get on here today and tell the world I had done it. I dug down deep and pulled out the confidence I needed to go on. 

Then I started to enjoy it. I began to notice the little things around me. The breeze coming off the lake was mild and cool. The sun was out and it wasn't too hot. Podrunner in my headphones steadily urged me onward. Equipped with the energybelt, complete with shotbloks and two small bottles of water, I had everything I needed. I felt safe and free. I felt good so I kept running.

I didn't have much trouble until around mile nine when I started to feel like there was a small rock in my shoe. I took off my shoe and shook it out, hopefully eliminating the discomfort. It didn't work. It wasn't until a couple miles later that I figured out that it wasn't a rock at all. It felt more like a teeny piece of glass. I took my shoe and my sock off and found a nickel-sized blister on the bottom of my foot. Ouch! There was nothing I could do, I was still a few miles from home, so I kept going and tried to ignore the pain. By mile 13 I was beat, and climbing the last and biggest hill. I told myself it was OK to walk here but by this time I had built up such a rythm that I couldn't stop. It felt really weird to walk. My legs felt alien beneath me. 

Finally it was over and I walked the last block and a half to stretch out my legs. When I got home I stretched, poured myself a tall glass of (room temp) water and took it into the bathroom where I soaked in an epsom salt bath for a half an hour. It felt amazing because my body hurt from the waist down. After that I rubbed my legs down with tiger balm and put on some tall fuzzy socks. It was heaven. I was in bed by 10:30 last night, sleeping like a baby. 

Today is my rest day and I'm set on recovery. I just  finished cooking a nice veggie soup from scratch and I'm about to spend the reat of the day studying. I hope I can find a ride in to work tonight so I don't have to bike it. After all, I've got another hard week of training coming up...

Tuesday: 5 miles, Hills

Wednesday: 7 miles

Thursday: 4 miles

Friday: 5 miles, med effort

Saturday: 5 miles

Sunday: step-back, My training says to find a 5-10k but I don't think there are any going on in my area. I guess I can always pretend.