I did it!

Yesterday it was a balmy 62 degrees. I headed to the park determined to run for two hours. I was going to look at the time only on my watch. Of course, I used my 2-mile loop at the park for my run so I pretty much knew how far I’d gone at any point on the trail. Still, it was kind of nice to just run and not be concerned with miles.

I could tell when I had hit mile nine. My quad muscles start to get a little sore after nine. My right calf was also sorta cramping every so often. Usually my left leg gives me all the problems. I slowed down a little to see if the cramp would go away and it did for the most part. I could still run so I did.

At 1:45 I was still moving along pretty good. The legs were a little tired, but I only had 15 more minutes to go. At 1:58 I decided to check out my mileage. I was just under 13 miles. 13 miles! I only had a short distance to go to run a half-marathon distance. With a time of 2:02, I completed 13.14 miles. Yes! Not only am I read for my upcoming half-marathon, but I might be able to run it in under 2 hours. I ran a little fast for miles 1 and 2, but then slowed down for the rest of the run. I was in no way racing. My time also included walking through four water stops. I place a bottle of water on the hood of my car and use it as a water stop so I don’t have to carry water while I run. So far no one has taken it. I keep a bottle in the car just in case.

Today my legs are a tiny bit sore, but I only notice it when I stand up from having sat for too long. Before yesterday, my longest run was 11 miles at which point I injured my hip and had to stop running for almost a week.

The half-marathon is still over a week away, but I’m ready!

Stats:
13.14 miles, 2:02:32 minutes, 9:19 pace