confidence then terror.

i'm overdue for a long run update. first, let me share an embarrassing (but maybe logical?) fact: in between my long runs, i've barely run at all. maybe a 3 or 5 miler now and then but really, ever since my 10 miler i've been focusing on eating protein and resting. plus, i'm old now and it takes a bit of time to recover.

my first long run was a 10 miler and it was amazing. completely, freakishly wonderful. i was nervous (appropriate) and maintained a great pace with solid energy. it started to lightening then quickly progressed to near black skies with horizontal rain at 10 in the morning. somehow, the fact that i was running despite my rampant apathy in such crazy weather made it all more fun. i high-fived a 70ish runner in the pouring rain and smiled A LOT. averaged a 9:30 pace and ran from my place to north ave beach, down past navy pier, montrose harbor, the aquarium, the bears stadium and mc cormick place (land of the marathon expo) and back.

last monday kristen and i ran a half marathon (separate) on monday. my ipod was acting up (see previous blog--also just found out NONE of my runs have been sent to the website since january. UGH!) so i'm not sure of my pace, but i think it was 9:45. the first 8 miles were fun but the least few were v. painful since my knees decided to remember that i have osgood-schlatter's and are not quite run-friendly. during the end of the run, i tried to remember that the ridiculous pain was helpful in the training to teach me to keep moving despite complete discomfort and my body screaming at me to stop.

with two good runs logged, i am running 18 miles today and totally freaked about it. it's over three hours of running solo, with a quiet running path and little to no external energy to motivate me. i am a classic extrovert who derives great energy from the people around me. so all factors considered, today may be harder than the marathon. which is a WEEK from today, by the way. shit.

enough talking, now time to drink a bit of fluids and gear up. personal lesson: stop talking and get out the f'ing door.