Gratitude

Today. ROCKED.

The 18-miler went as good as it ever could have and better than I hoped. The weather was perfect, high 50s when I started. This is the kind of day I dream of for the marathon.

I had a feeling I was going to have a good run, in the first mile my legs felt good, I wasn't breathing heavy at all, and I hit the first mile marker at 9 minutes and 30 seconds. As psyched as I was about that, I knew I had to hold back because I haven't trained at that pace for long distances and I had a really long distance to cover today. So I slowed down but it was actually good that I started out at that pace because it set the tone for the rest of the run.

Around the 2-mile mark I saw a man out walking, also enjoying the gorgeous day. He had a severe limp and a walker. Seeing him struggling just to walk made me think of my dad, a stroke survivor. He struggles every day. When I saw that man today it made me realize how GD lucky I am to have my health and to be able to train for this marathon. As I get older I realize more and more that health isn't anything to be taken for granted. Bad crap can happen at any time, just ask my dad. That put it all into perspective for me. I wanted to give the run the best I could because I am fortunate enough to be able to do so.

I only messed up on my route once but it was a minor mistake. I never needed my map that I made and I felt pretty confident that I knew where I was going. My Gatorade drops were perfectly placed. Since it was cool today I didn't ever go through a whole bottle before getting to the next one. So much better than running out and dying of thirst.

So here's the course -- impressive, isn't it?!

And here's the splits. Even more impressive! I only had 2 miles above 11 minutes and one of them was when I stopped to use the bathroom just before mile 11.

My overall pace was 10:33/mile (going by my watch, the app is always a little high because I have to put away my iPhone before I get going). That is AWESOME. I can't believe I was so consistent and solid with my pace for 18 miles. EIGHTEEN MILES! Besides praying for weather like today, if I can pull off a solid run like this for marathon day I will be so freaking psyched.

What I was most encouraged by was that I felt better at mile 18 than I did at mile 12. Fatigue comes in waves for me but when it does come I always worry that it's not a wave but the end. I honestly felt like I could have banged out a few more miles when I finished which is a good place to be, mentally and physically, with the 20-miler coming up.

This has been a great week for running. I haven't felt like my training has been consistent and I felt like I was struggling a lot more after my gallbladder surgery. This week was rock solid and I feel like a real runner training for a marathon.

Tomorrow is 4 miles and my husband is coming with me! He wants to start running again. This could be a whole new thing for us!