I ran 16 miles.
Yea, that's right. 16 miles. Booyah.
It was amazing. I felt amazing. Physically and mentally. Just... amazing.
Ashley and I set out for what was supposed to be a 15 miler at 6:30am. I was a bit worried that we would start off too strong and run too fast, then burn out. So I kept a close eye on my watch and if we ran faster than a 9:45 mile, we would pull back a little. At mile 6, Maureen and Paige merged in. Still feeling great, still going strong. My GPS seemed to be a good bit ahead of the route I had mapped out on MapMyRun, but we just went with it; my GPS hit mile 15 about 1 mile from our end point, but we were all feeling good enough to keep going for that last bit. I was feeling so spectacular, it was such a high. Paige and I sprinted the last bit and I swear, I could have kept going... what a feeling! 16 miles! We averaged a 9:59 pace- perfect. We finished in 2hrs 39 minutes.
And the best part? Out to breakfast after! We went to Blue Plate Cafe and consumed a good 3000 calories each. Eggs, pancakes, biscuits, grits... scrumptious. And well deserved. No guilt.
While Saturday was amazing and a complete ego boost and natural high, yesterday was... well... rough. I felt like I had been hit by a bus. I was exhausted, upset stomach, and just all around yuck. Not sure if that was 100% because of the run or what, but I felt like crap.
Still, I am so proud of myself, and of my friends. I love my running group. I look forward to these Saturday runs every week- it is never something I dread or worry about. I know it is going to be a positive, supportive, amazing time. What a wonderful run!
This coming weekend will be a bit easier. I have a 4 mile race on Friday night, and was supposed to have another 5k on Sunday morning, but the 5k got cancelled. So, instead, I think we may go meet up with some other running friends out in Germantown for a 10 miler on Sunday morning. A nice "easy" weekend, right?
Oh, and these flowers are pretty :)
Have a wonderful week, everyone!
