Powering Through

Banged out my 9 mile run this weekend. Instead of raining all day yesterday like predicted, it rained until about noon and then cleared up into a pretty nice day. I knew I’d just be anxious about it all day if I didn’t get out there, so I laced up and did the damn thing (my long runs are always on Saturday, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let some punk-ass chumps ruin it for me). 

To be honest, it wasn’t pretty. About a mile in my nose started running and had no intention of stopping. Why would it? After sniffling proved useless, I used my fingers and got right up in there. Have you ever used your hand as a tissue? I’m not talking about casually wiping a runny nose on the back of your hand; I’m talking full on blowing into the crevice of your thumb and index finger. Have you ever done that time after time after time? 

My earbuds proved to be another challenge. Usually they stay in my ears like champs but for one reason or another they decided to take turns falling out, alternating sides and causing me to almost rip them out entirely. But not really b/c running w/out music? Impossible (for me, at least). 

Another technical difficulty was the large effing cramp that showed up around mile 4 and decided to hang out for another mile or two. Not cool. I didn’t know if it was b/c I hadn’t had much to eat besides some fruit and raisins, or if it was all the water I chugged before heading out, but it was really almost a deal breaker. I knew I couldn’t stop b/c who knows what I’ll be feeling on the day of the half? Cramps are small potatoes compared to something like shin splints or serious shit like that. So I powered through and it finally let up around mile 6 or so. See ya, sucka. 

All this adds up to a pretty grim run. I wasn’t feeling so hot until I checked my time and saw that I finished in under 90 minutes. I’ve been training at a solid 10 minute mile, so seeing this was HUGE. I dealt w/ all that ish and still managed to make my goal time?

yippee ki yay motherfucker