Moderation is the last refuge for the unimaginative…
Thus spaketh Oscar Wilde (at least according to my 30 second internet research).
So, you know how last week I was all sad? Well, now I’m not. Probably because (a#1) the PMS-y time is over and (b#2) I ran 10.14 miles yesterday.
Let’s elaborate on B#2, shall we?
Yesterday, I had the day off work. The Bean’s daycare was open, as was the architect’s place of employment. What’s a gazelle to do when left to her own devices all day?
I naturally went for a trail run. I thought 7-8 miles would be grand. As part of a kick-ass women’s group I’m a member of, my current challenge was to hit double-digits by my birthday. February 24. As I was running on the trails yesterday, I thought to myself, “Self, I think you could hit 10 miles today.”
I replied: “That’s quite a ramp up, as you haven’t done a long trail run for 2 weeks, and the last was only 6.5 miles.”
“You can do it! Are you scared or something?”
And, since I hate being called a chicken, even by me, I went for it. My GPS doesn’t work too well on the trails, so I was doing some mental calculations. I got back to the parking lot at approximately 9.5 miles. So of course I headed up the other trail (the easier one) for just over a quarter of a mile so that I could hit 10. When I put it in my spreadsheet, it turned out to be 10.14 miles.
I ran 10 miles in December 2012, but before that, the last time I hit double digits was in July 2011, a week after I found out I was pregnant.
To say that the realization that this was my longest run in 2.5 years made me a little emotional is a vast understatement.
So of course I immediately decided I was ready to sign up for a 50K. After all, if I can double my trail mileage in one month, why not triple it in four?
Don’t worry – I didn’t sign up for the Memorial Forest Park 50K. Yet. I thought I might try to get closer to 20 miles before making a financial commitment.
But I feel good. Sore, but good. 30 minutes in the pool and 10 minutes in the hot tub today helped with that good feeling.
So, maybe I’ve hit the peak of this January mountain? Or maybe I just need to take the ups and down in stride like I do in any freakishly awesome trail run.
