Whoa

I just ran 8 miles and I wasn't considering it my "long" run of the week... WHAT THE HELL?!

:-D

It was a tempo run with the 4 middle miles around my goal half marathon pace, 9:40. When cool-down time rolls around I have a really hard time even running 1 mile because I usually am just so ready for it to be over. But today I ran 2 warm-up and 2 cool-down miles! CRAZY!

It's about 4 hours post-run now and I'm still feeling okay. I don't feel beat up, just crazy positive about everything.

It seems pretty common sense that if you push yourself, your body will adapt and you WILL become a better runner but for the years that I ran before this year, I felt like I was pushing myself. That's the thing, running is a challenge, running slow, running fast, running loooooooooong distances, it doesn't matter! It's all pretty tough but the hardest part is starting!

No matter what type of run I have planned I can definitively say that making the initial transition from stationary, or walking, or whatever, to running proves the toughest challenge! Once you get moving, pushing yourself harder is not any harder than actually starting in the first place.

Well with the exception of trying to make yourself run when you really shouldn't. Like when your head weighs 8 pounds more than usual due to the snot filling your sinuses... Yeah, then the whole run is really, really hard and I don't recommend trying it...

Today was a good run day, though. I am feeling more confident in my abilities as a runner with every step!