This whole week I was dreading today. Yes, I was exctied that it was going to be Friday. However, that also meant it was my long run day. On the calender for today was 9 miles. That's two more miles than I had run last time. I don't ever remember running that much. At running camp, I might have run 7 miles... run/walk form. 9 miles? Yeah right!
Well, after I run, I usually forget about the rest of the things I did before, but let's see... I woke up planning to go to Valsets for breakfast but looking outside at the foggy cold morning convinced me otherwise. Instead I had my classic breakfast and quite a bit of peanut butter, watched some Community too. There was class and some lunch after that. Then it was time for the run.
I mapped out my run beforehand on Mapmyrun.com to make sure that I did the right mileage. I made sure there was a road side point that would help me have a good point to loop back around. The road was Gildow Road. Remember that now.
My runkeeper decided to not find the GPS at the beginning of my run, so I opted to not look at it. The run was not easy of course. When getting to what point I knew as the 3.5 mile mark, I was thinking, "Oh man. This is so hard. Will I ever be able to run a half marathon, if this is so hard?" But I kept running.
Here's a good tip for you: Don't run on highway 99 inbetween Independence and Salem. It is scary, and you can smell the nearby sewage plant when the wind blows near you.
After running toward Salem for quite some time, I realized that this seemed a bit ridiculous that I hadn't gotten to the halfway mark yet. Every street sign had me hopeful, but quickly dashed my hopes onto the ground. Where was Gildow Road?! Finally I opted to turn around at Rogers Street, a sign I would be able to map out to.
Was this run very fast? As if. I felt as though I had reverted back to the beginning of cross country, the slowest runner of the group struggling to catch up. The difference was that this was my run, and my run alone. I had to do this for myself. If I gave up, I would feel terrible. Who cares if it was a snail's pace? Today I was in it for the distance.
As for distance... well, my GPS on the runkeeper started working somewhere during the run, and it was saying 10.45 miles. What? Of course it was bugging out, but I still wanted to find out how far I'd actually run. When I mapped it out again on mapmyrun.com, I looked for Rogers road. What did it say for mileage?
10.9 MILES.
I have just one thing to say. Holy f***. (I try to censor myself... but is there really a point?)
That is amazing. I can't believe I actually could do something like that! I was terrified of the 9 miles, and ended up running almost 11! It's incredible what you can do if you decide you're not giving up not matter what. It also helps if you can't figure out where your marker is and end up going father.
Afterwards of course I was exhaused. When I was running the last stretch my thighs felt like there were bricks attached to them. Now... not really sure. Kind of zoned out. Actually, my arms are strangely sore. Huh.
Everytime I run, I know it's going to be hard. Once I do it though, I feel so proud of myself, and it's okay to feel proud of yourself for doing something big. It's not narcissism, it's validating accomplishment.
My increase of mileage has been one of the biggest things I've ever been proud of about myself. The only other big thing I can think of was after the showing of our school production of Alice in Wonderland where I played Alice. Not sure what is better yet.
Long post, but I felt like I had a lot to talk about! I hope you all have a lovely evening!
What have you felt the most proud of in your life?
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