What a difference a day (off) makes

My last post was about my horrible run on Friday.  I was not too incredibly bummed out about it.  I needed a day off and a bad run was the evidence of that.  But even though I was ok with it, I was thinking about it.  Was I wearing down?  Would I actually be able to run 13.1 straight miles? What if May 15th was one of those bad run days?  Ugh!!  So I didn't run on Saturday, I just swam (which is like a day off because I am so horrible at swimming it is barely a workout).

My legs were feeling fresh this morning but I really wasn't planning on a long run since my last long run was Wednesday.  I thought I could do it one afternoon this week.  But when we got home from church Kev said, "Hey why don't you go run.  It isn't snowing."  Well OK then!  Don't put off tomorrow what you can get done today, right??  Did I feel like running 10+ miles?  Nope, nope I did not!  But with two little kids and a finicky weather report you just go do it when you can and not when you feel like it.

So off I went (this time with my ipod) to the Mary Carter Greenway.  I'm sure some people would get bored running the same path all the time but I am a creature of habit so I like trudging along the route I know.  The run was uneventful and went a lot faster than on Wednesday (hmm I think the ipod had something to do with that!).  I was surprised to look down at my watch at the 10 mile mark and realize that I was averaging around 9 minute miles!  That is fast for me.  It was at this point I thought, "Hmm I wonder if I could do a whole marathon?"  Oh but that last mile was half run/ half hobble, which made me realize a marathon was not in the immediate future (or ever!).

Second to last long run was crossed off the list.  One more long run and then 13.1 on May 15th!  I am saying that my goal is to finish.  I will be happy if I do it in under 2:10 and thrilled if I somehow manage to get in under 2:00.  Not elite by any stretch of the imagination and I want to emphasize that!  If you are thinking about a race, any race, just do it!  You don't have to be fast, you just have to be willing to give it a go!!