Chapter 2 Page 270 - TR 93 11 miles or bust

First - a HUGE welcome back to "C".  Seriously - I missed you!!!  10 miles, last week, was sooooo lonely.  And Saturday, at the race, she texted me to pretend it was 80 degrees and sunny (it so WAS NOT 80 and sunny).

I mapped out an 11.11 mile run for us in our small town.  Show of hands who lives in a small town?

I ask because other small towners out there will understand this - 11 miles in a small town is completely and totally running the entire town . . . twice!  From the furthest point north to the furthest point south - our town is only like 6 miles.   So . . .creating long runs that don't require a lot of BORING country roads (no offense to my rural friends like Susie @ Weighing In . . . .nothin' but love) is a HUGE challenge.  Now, before you all suggest that we don't just run straight - WE.DON'T.   We do a loop of sorts so we get a fair share of scenery change, I'm just saying that small downs don't offer much in the way of variety of possible long run routes. 

"C" and I  met up and we started off with a 3 minute walk so that we could get across the bring and not get taken out by the traffic then we began 2:2.  Now, because I had my good "don't even think about quitting" training partner with me - this 11.16  mile run featured ONE THING-constant 2:2 . . . there was no walking through an interval, there were no "sitting on the rock" moments, there were no breaks of any kind.  It was 2:54.03 of constant 2:2s.  Now, for all of you reading that very slow time - I know it's pretty disappoitingly slow; however, WE.DID.THAT.  That's our LONGEST run since we ran the Women's Half Marathon last November.  Tonight's run was a challenge - we are super sore (feet, calves, quads, and hams - pretty much everything feels like I just walked to California.  But . . . I am very proud of the accomplishment - thanks "C" for the constant pushing me to do it and encouragement.  Thanks for slowing down when I needed it.  And most of all -thanks for being at my side.  Way more fun WITH you than WITHOUT you.  I definitely wouldn't be a half marathoner if I didn't have her every step of the way (or at least most of the steps).

So cross of the 11 miler on this training cycle.  Next week is a step down week of 7 miles -do you know how easy 7 will feel after the 9, 10, 11 milers the last 3 weeks?  Ohhh yeah!  BRING IT!  We have long runs of 12, 13, and 14 (and a couple more 10's before our half) - but we won't focus on those right now.  Right now, I have ice packs on both knees, my night splint on my foot, and an ice pack on my lower back.  And tomorrow - tomorrow MGA will be giving  me a HOT ROCK massage.  OH YEAH!!!!

Quick shout out to Holly @ Rustbeltrunner and Kimberly at HealthyStrides who invited "C" and I to join them to watch the My Run tonight.  Sorry girls we weren't able to join you, but we thought about you a lot and hope you had a GREAT time!!!!  Next time - okay?!?!

p.s. after my shower (ahhhh, Calgon take me away - I know, I know - ice baths are better for me - yikes!), I noticed that I had 2 blisters (one on the side of my toe, and the one popped that popped on the bottom of my toe - sorry for the sexy foot photo).  So glad to be experiencing blisters once again!!!!

For those who are interested, HERE is the link to our first 10 mile run last August . . . oh how far we've come since.