Ing’s Blog

15 miles has always been difficult for me.  I’m not sure why, but it has been.  I was supposed to run the long 15 yesterday, but easily talked myself out of it as I lay in bed next to JR all warm and snuggly.  So, today was the day.  This actually will fit our schedule better since the kids sports will start up soon.  Thankfully we now go to church at night – for anyone who cares about that aspect.  I gotta say though, church at night is a TON easier than church in the morning.

So, today I ran around East Park, saw an old guy with his shirt off along the lake reading a paper and smoking pot.  The smell was unmistakeable.  This acutally made me a bit nervous though.  There is not a lot of activity along that lake in the early morning.  I try to stick with paths that make me feel safe.  I’m not sure if I’ll be running that route again.  So, I continued down Narcoosee turned around and came back.  Around the lake on the way back, the man was gone, not too surprising.

It took me under 2 hours and 15 minutes to finish.  So, I was under a 9 minute pace.  This was great.  I carried my water and gel pack with me the entire run in JR’s old fanny pack from the 80’s.  This is humorous to me since I still use the same running shorts I ran with my senior year in high school.   This weeks total mileage was 33 miles.  Last week I ran 32 miles.  Next week will be a resting week and only 28 miles with a long run of 11 miles.

My right foot is a bit sore, so I’m icing it now.  All in all, I’m tired, but still have some energy.  Mentally, this run was difficult once I hit mile 11.  Why I am doing this, I ask myself.  I’ve already run a marathon, do I really need to do it again?  Do I really need to try to run it in under four hours?  Does it really matter at all in the big scheme of things?  Is the discomfort, the soaked, sweaty body at the end worth it all?  Well…I’m not sure.  For some idiotic reason, I’ll probably keep training.  Last week I ran 14 miles at a 9:01 pace.  That was a pretty smooth long run.  I tried Clif Shot for the first time last week.  Today I used Power Gel.  I’ll be sticking with Power Gel for the duration.  Sometimes when I’m running I hear in my head the voice of Dory from Finding Nemo with one word changed….”Just Keep Running, Just Keep Running…”