Saturday, August 23, 2008

20 miles in the heat

wow today was intense on so many levels!

most obviously... i ran 20 miles for the first time ever in life...

i also debuted my brand new "cutesy" running outfit...

now i know you are wondering.... why is that intense?

but for those of you that know me.... you know that "cute" is a very recent phenomenon in my life... so it took a good a 2hrs of running before i got comfortable with the fact that people were actually looking at me (in a good way)... as i ran past....

... i'm shy to put it mildly...

it was also 87 FREAKING DEGREES OUTSIDE and the humidity made it feel like 92!!!!!

never has being hydrated been so necessary to my life... i swear i sweated off 5lbs (and clearly i can't afford to lose any weight)

nevertheless.... i am so thankful that i decided to run... or more accurately... decided to finish...

the last two days i've been in a pretty heavy funk... ... i haven't really wanted to go anywhere, do anything or talk to anybody... sometimes sadness just hits you like that you know?

i wasn't even going to go run this morning... until yesterday morning when i looked at the list i made for myself on on 43things.com a month ago...

one of the things i promised myself is that i'd be healthier... and with that i said i would make sure i completed every remaining workout for the marathon unless there were extenuating circumstances...

... so... i decided to go...

but after the first 8 miles... i just couldn't shake how i was feeling... and i really felt like i should just go home and call it a day.... and its crazy... when your mind is feeling sad/tired like that... it definetly makes it harder on your body...

but i knew that if i stopped running i would just feel worse when i got home...

so i decided to keep pushing... and it was such a blessing because by the time we hit 57th... i was so freaking hot i couldn't even focus on being sad anymore... all i could think about was pushing my body, finishing the run and cooling down!

i ended up having a GREAT time! the run was really succesful and i was even able to sprint the last .5 miles with one of my running partners...

this marathon training has saved me from myself so many times this summer... its amazing how good running can make your mind and your body feel... and the discipline it requires has definetly translated into other areas of my life... namely... my qualifying exam studying...

so here i am... 50 days away from the chicago marathon...

peace.

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