A Lonely 13.5 Miles

I recently experienced both the best and worst run that I've ever had in my entire life! I ran an easy nine miles on Thursday with Hillary and Sarah. We ran the hills from Crossroads and I've never felt better! My legs carried me with the strength of an ox and the speed of a cheetah! I picked up the pace on the hills and sprinted to the pole at the end of my run!

On Sunday, however, my 13.5 mile run received a four (4) on my gut rating scale which means: Heart and soul not out here with my body, but...The Plan, Boss, The Plan! I gave it such great effort, and I actually wanted to be out there! I was originally going to run in Waltham with the rest of the DFMC team, but plans changed at the last minute. Nothing, however, was going to stop me from running! I slept in a little bit and tossed on my running clothes at 10am. "Tossed" is the keyword. I wore a long-sleeved running top, a fleece jacket, gloves and a hat. I took my hat and gloves off just a few miles into the run and left them inside the doorway at Katherine and Pete's apartment. I tied my fleece jacket around my waist and pressed on towards the midway point in my run. When I arrived at the fire station, I filled up my water bottle and used the restroom before venturing back out towards my apartment.

I actually regret stopping at the fire station because my body temperature dropped much too quickly. I became rather cold and the wind really picked up! Oh, how I longed for my hat and gloves!! My ears stung and I couldn't feel my hands at all! My muscles felt tight, but I kept going! For every mile than I ran, I walked for a minute or two. I really beat myself up as I walked to the top of Heartbreak Hill. I was so frustrated because this is the very same hill that I sprinted up less than three days earlier! After almost five, cold miles, I arrived at the location of my hat and gloves! I stood in the doorway of Katherine and Pete's house while I contemplated crashing on their couch! I caught my breath and pressed on to my next destination: Marathon Sports. I was in desperate need of some Sports Beans!

Marathon Sports was busy as always, but I managed to trade a soggy five dollar bill for four miniature bags of fuel. It occurred to me that I didn't have a bag or pockets to use to carry my Sports Beans home, so you can only imagine where I put them!

I left the store with only a mile left to go in my run! It was a noisy run home with Sports Beans hidden in every possible nook and cranny! My body warmed up slightly, but my knee began to ache at mile 13! Lucky number 13! My body told me to stop running, so I listened for just a minute. I walked for a bit, but I caught myself running shortly thereafter. Ouch! I walked again! I listened this time. I walked at a quick, running pace. Oh no! I walked again. I finally listened to my knee, and walked the last quarter mile. My run would've been 13.75 miles, but I stopped running at mile 13.5.

I'm not entirely sure what is troubling my knee. It could've been a pothole, or it might be the fact that my muscles tightened up midway through the run when I got cold. I'm confident that my knee just needs a day to recover, and I'll be back out there in no time! After all, this was just one of those "bad long runs."