"That's why you train..."

Our friend, Penni, has a tried and true saying when people say things to her like, "I can't run a marathon." Simple, but right on, she says, "Of course you can't do it NOW, that's why you train." Completely obvious, but perspective-inducing nonetheless. That, along with another of my favorite phrases, "If it was easy, everyone would do it," were in my head today during my long run. I ran about 13 miles (2:15:30) and kept wondering how in the hell I'm going to do a marathon in April and an Ironman in August...2 hours and 15 minutes is a damn long time to be running, especially in the rain. But I kept thinking that's why we train and tried to just tackle what was in front of me without worrying about a marathon that's 6 months away. Future-oriented anxiety aside, I was quite happy with the run...I did a mile at tempo pace (158-160 bpm) halfway through and went an 8:10 mile (woo-hoo!), and tried to do last mile/fast mile at the end, but it was more like .75 because I didn't have much left. The rest of the run was around 10:10 minute mile pace, I think, and I kept the HR around 140 most of the time. I ran on Lake Washington to Seward Park and hit 4 water fountains, still commited to my plan of not carrying any water...had one and a half clif shot blocks toward the end of the run. Felt pretty depleted and beat up afterwards...was glad Seujan had run from home to the car to meet me so she could drive home. After lunch I was toast...had 3 advil and a nap on the couch before I could return to the land of the living.

This was my first half marathon distance run!!!!