Long Run No. 4 ... Mosquitoes and 5 in the Morning

Saturday - 6 miles

• 6.29 miles, 74' 43" minutes, 11' 52" min/mile average pace
• Splits:
• Mile 1: 11' 04" min/mile
• Mile 2: 11' 31" min/mile
• Mile 3: 11' 49" min/mile
• Mile 4: 12' 09" min/mile
• Mile 5: 12' 08" min/mile
• Mile 6: 12' 30" min/mile

At work, I have become known as the "Incredible Shrinking Woman". One of the running jokes has become that by the end of the year I will waste away to nothing. One of the other women in the office asked me if I ever get bored or annoyed with people complimenting me. I said no. To some it may get boring or even annoying but to me the compliments serve as reinforcement that the changes I have made on my life really are working and helping me achieve my goal of living a healthy, happy life.

I believe that I now find myself among the serious runners, also known as the people who run for the pure enjoyment of running. My Saturday did not start in the most conventional way or the most conventional of times for that matter. Every six or seven weeks, I meet my parents for breakfast for no other reason than the fact that my hair needs to be maintained. Long story short, I had a really bad experience with Sun In about 7 years ago and I have not been able to return to my gorgeous natural hair color ever since. Unfortunately, this week my training schedule required me to run 6 miles today. Hoping that my parents didn't want to do breakfast (mostly because of my dad's new diet program), I called them last night and asked if we were still doing breakfast. To my dismay, my dad said yes and that we would meet at the usual place at 9:30 AM. WHAT ?!?!?!? After doing some quick math in my head, I figured out that I would have to wake up at 5 AM in order to get my 6 mile run in. That time didn't sound at all appealing and still doesn't.

I did it though. I woke at 5:10, which means that my not-so-awake subconscious self actually hit the snooze button once before my eyes snapped open. I fumbled around the kitchen to make my oh-so-yummy breakfast (yogurt and granola), which I ate as quickly as possible because I only gave myself one hour to digest my food. After eating my breakfast, I attempted to change into my running outfit but because the sun was still no where to be seen I forgot to put on my heart rate monitor chest strap. I didn't actually leave my place until 6:15, which was 15 minutes later than I wanted to. Oh well, I refused to let time be a problem and weigh me down today. As I was walking towards the running trail, I ate my first ever Clif Shot Bloks. These things are similar to Clif Shots and or GU chomps except unlike traditional gels they are chewy. In fact, I was reminded of Swedish Fish or Jelly Beans when I ate the first one. I decided to try these out today because I knew that my run would be at least 72 minutes this morning. In my research, I have found that anytime you are going on a run that is going to last more than 60 minutes you should ingest some form of fuel that is easily digestible. I have never tried any of these energy gels before so I figured that today would be as good as any. To my amazement, the Strawberry flavored Clif Shot Bloks are actually quite tasty and not very difficult to eat while running (a theory I tested around the 4.50 mile mark). As I approached the trail, I figured out that running at 6:30 on a Saturday is actually not that bad. Apparently, this is the time when all of the serious athletes (runners, walkers and bicyclists) are out. Not a single jogging stroller was to be seen, which meant no one was able to chuck a book (or any other foreign object) at me. My run itself was not difficult but I could definitely tell that my body was not used to the extended length of time that I forced it to exert energy. I ended up finishing my run and walking back to my place right on schedule. I was still late for breakfast though because I spent too much time reveling in my accomplishment. I ran 6.3 miles! I actually ran 6.3 miles! Of course, the actual race is 13.1 miles, which means I will need to run another 6.8 miles but who is really counting. Besides the fact that mosquitoes were dive bombing me and the air was so humid it felt like I was running through hair gel, me run went really well. My stomach didn't get upset with me and my legs continued to function properly throughout my run.

The completion of today's long run marked the first significant milestone in my training schedule. Four Weeks Done! Only 14 more weeks to go before my first ever half marathon! The anticipation is mounting an I can't wait. Over the past four weeks, I have run almost 47 miles (46.90 to be exact) and done 12 strength training workouts. Also, one week from Monday I will be on vacation in the mountains. I can't wait!