Fifteen Miles and Remembering the Reason(s) why I'm doing this

Saturday's run was hard.

Not physically (well, yeah okay physically because there were some narsty hills).

But it was actually tougher mentally.

This week has been a crazy one - between dog rescuing, working, unabashed flirting, and running, I actually hit my limit and did not do speed work on Wednesday. But that's okay, because my body was saying "Hey doll, you're kind of killing us both here, so why don't you take it down a notch."

So this week's running went a little like this:

Monday - 3.32 Cross Fit Outside (which, let's face it, killed me)
Tuesday - 2.3 miles (+ a new pair of shoes! Thanks Zack at Pacers!)
Wednesday - Glorious sleeping time
Thursday - 3.12 miles (Posted below, because it was actually a total boss run)
Friday - Volunteering with Lost Dog 5k
Saturday - 15 miles

So let's pause for a second on the Thursday run, because for some reason I was keeping up with the cool kids for a mile and a half into the run (10 minute mile. Outside. What?!) Then I turned off and ran on my own, where I proceeded to wuss out and walk a lot more than I should have.

But still. Sonia is right, I am getting faster. (more on how awesome she is later).

Saturday was like "OOMPH. FIFTEEN. WHAT." At first, anyways.

Then I got a little confused at the directions (hah, shocker). So for the first five miles, I kept pausing my damned Garmin and checking my phone, like "Where the heck is this turn off for the W&OD trail?" Yes, friends, I have lived here for almost 10 years. But I had runner's brain.

Luckily, I kept running into fun runners smarter than me who were doing less than fifteen miles (like, you know, 10), who kept me pointed in the right direction. Then, I finally realized where I was going, and was like, "Okay, this is great."

Except by that point, I'd floundered for probably half an hour, and my schedule was all off. So there I was, on the Washington and Old Dominion Trail, 8 miles left to go in my run, and I started to really wish that I could just go home.

But, you know, I was way out in the boonies (figuratively speaking, you will note in the map below that I was right smack dab in the middle of Arlington County). And there was only one way to get back to my car, sitting at Gravelly Point.

On the run, I was reminded of a saying that will say, "Never give up on a dream just because it will take time to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway (Earl Nightingale)." And, in my deep dark thoughts, I realized that the eight miles back to the car would happen anyways. So I could either run them or walk them, but they were going to happen.

And guess what? Happen they did. Although I did take a little detour through Crystal City vice heading all the way back to the trail.

And even through all the stopping and starting and whining and whathaveyou, I still managed a 12 minute mile pace.

Which, let me say, when I got back to Gravelly Point, I was in no mood for life. Seriously. But, you know, my friends were hanging out there waiting for me to come back. Because they are seriously the most supportive people on the face of the planet. And I love them, although I don't know if I was that vocal about my affection after the run.

But I do, Pacers People. You guys are the reason why I continue to run. <3

Here's the Garmin data for the awesome Arlington Triangle.


Also, I was successful in staving off a migraine. I'm not sure if it was because it was cooler, or if it was because I downed a chocolate (soy) milk immediately after I got back and a nectarine, or if it was the gallon of Powerade I drank during the day, but I did not get a migraine. So thank God for small miracles.

HEY.