Double Digits, Baby!

I ran 10 miles non-stop this afternoon. TEN. 1-0. Double digits! Whoa.

M & M are out of town for the weekend visiting family, but I stayed behind because I'm playing aux keyboard for a delightful production of Hairspray. (One more performance tonight- come on down!) So I've got a lot of free time on my hands, which I won't lie- is a big fat slice of heaven. ;) Max has been waking up anywhere between 3-5 am this week for various reasons (thirsty, wanting to play, etc), so it was awesome to sleep through the night last night.

But I digress. I started training for a 10k a couple weeks ago in hopes of running one before Thanksgiving. I've been a pretty hardcore treadmill fan because it's what I can use while Max is in daycare at the gym. Monday of this week I decided to switch it up: I took him to the daycare at the Y branch in town, which is further from our place, but has a 2 hour time limit. (A whole hour more than the local branch!) After I dropped him off, I ran an awesome trail within the vicinity of the gym. I feel like I get a better workout when I run outside and really wanted to kick things up a notch. I ran 5k on Mon and then 4 miles on Wednesday. Knowing I'd be alone at home this weekend and didn't have a time constraint, I planned to make today my 'long run' day.

I headed out with the intention of doing 5 miles, possibly 10k if I had the gumption and was feeling it. It was the perfect day- not humid at all, a nice breeze, amazing views and sunny to boot! I ended up running to the post office in the next 'town' over and arrived at 12:34. I'm kind of a numbers geek, so the time number order tickled me to no end. (Insert geeky *snort* here.) That was about 4 miles, so I made it my goal to run all the way home and top out at 8 miles. Honestly, I didn't really think I'd be able to do it, but I figured I'd be happy as long as I got to 10k (6.2 mi). I was feeling great by 10k, so I decided to extend my route. Again, the numbers were in my head and DOUBLE DIGITS (aka 10) were inching towards the front of the line. I finished my extended route and headed through some pretty residential neighborhoods and was still feeling good until about 8.5 miles. Then I started to whimper and trying to talk myself into stopping and/or walking.

The bull-headed side of me won out. If I was going to do this, I was going to do it without stopping! Needless to say, the final mile and a half was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle slow and painful. If I'D seen me on the road at that point, I'd have stopped and asked if I was okay and needed a ride home.

But I did it. 10 MILES. 3.8 miles over my previous personal best of one 10k on the treadmill! Excuse me while I go take an ice bath...

(Oh! I should note that this run would not have been possible had it not been for my Bondi Band and Mind Over Matter hat! The combination of the headband and hat kept ALL sweat out of my eyes for the WHOLE run. I'm not even joking! This. Is. Major. Note: M.O.M. is a non-profit organization founded by one of my elementary school classmates and her family in honor & memory of her mother. The purpose is to encourage "personal wellness" and "community betterment" – enabling people to help others while helping themselves. Karen has been very encouraging in my running efforts and I'm proud to wear my M.O.M. hat!)