Saturday, February 9, 2008

Bet I'll be sore tomorrow! (9 on the 9th race report!)

Whew!

I just ran nine miles! I almost can't believe it!

The weather was perfect for running. Sunshine, a breeze and only a few clouds when I headed out the door. Unfortunately, I wore my heavier wick-away shirt and really regretted it around Mile 4. Live and learn.

So I left the house around 11:30 a.m. and had my path plotted out. The first mile has a gradual hill climb pretty much the entire way. I like to get the hills out of the way at the beginning because I know doing them at the end is much harder. The first three miles were almost exactly what I run on a regular basis, so it was nice and familiar. And it felt pretty good, too.

At Mile 4, I had to stop at McDonald's for a pee break. It only took a minute and I was off again. Then, at 5.5 miles, I gulped down a Gu (still gross). At 7.25 miles, I had to fill my water bottles back up at the hospital. It was around this time I was questioning if I could actually finish. My legs felt kinda wobbly and I was so tired. Then I remembered that awesome quote I used the other day, from George S. Patton. I would NOT let my body rule this run. This was all about my mind getting me to the finish. At that point, I didn't care what my time was. I just wanted to be done.

After Mile 8 was in the books, I was confident I could finish. Boy howdy, was it hard. But I just kept putting one foot in front of the other until Garmin beeped after Mile 9 was done (my slowest mile, but who cares?). I had done it! Honestly, it felt so good to stop and walk! I think for my really long runs for my HM training, I might start doing walk breaks to keep my legs from petering out like today.

9 on the 9th Run stats:
Distance: nine miles!
Time: 1:43 even (can't believe it!)
Pace: 11:26 minute/mile

10 comments:

Bob A said...

Sore tomorrow -- I was sore the moment I stopped running! Way to keep pushing on, Michelle, to finish the 9 on the 9th. Good time, too.

When I can, I like to get my hills out of the way first. However, that's pretty hard to do in Richmond. Hills toughen you ... they are your friends ... they help you run stronger and faster ... yada, yada ... truth is, they hurt! :-D

Bob

Nancy said...

YEAHHHHHH you did 9!! WAAAA HOOOOO. I'm so excited that you did it.

Great job. So happy you participated. What I love is that this thing pushes people to get out there and do it when we might not have or to go farther than we might have gone.

Sonia said...

Congrats lady!!! What a milestone! =)

We did it in the same time!!!

Running Jen said...

Yay! Great job Michelle!!

Marathoner in Training said...

That is the Michelle that I know. Great Job

Mary Gee said...

Super Job! Way to go!

Laurel said...

Congratulations! Thats so awesome Michelle. And your time is great!

Wes said...

Nice job! The next time, run 10, and 9 will be easy peasy the next time you do it! :-)

RunnerGirl said...

Congrats on the run!

J~Mom said...

Nice job girl!!! You did awesome!!!!