15 Miles...Longest Run I've Ever Had!

Waking up every Saturday morning to do a long run can be rough sometimes.  I am a morning person so that makes it easier, but when the alarm goes off at 4:45am to run, the first thought is always...do I have to?  The answer, of course, is NO, I don't HAVE to run, but I WANT TO run.  There is a big difference.  When you want to do something it makes it enjoyable, especially when you see results.  Today I saw results and lots of them!

My plan was to go out and enjoy a 15 mile run.  This, I thought, was going to be hard because the longest I have run since March has been 12 miles, mostly because of my knee, but also because this was the longest run of my life...so far!  The idea behind a long, easy run is to run about 1:30 min slower than your race pace and I feel like I was pretty successful with it.  My last 5 miles were a little slower than my first 10, but I'm ok with that.  Here's the breakdown:

Mile 1 - 10:27
Mile 2 - 10:27
Mile 3 - 10:44
Mile 4 - 10:33
Mile 5 - 10:34
Mile 6 - 10:22
Mile 7 - 10:26
Mile 8 - 10:46
Mile 9 - 10:37
Mile 10 - 10:52
Mile 11 - 11:02
Mile 12 - 11:24
Mile 13 - 11:43
Mile 14 - 10:45
Mile 15 - 11:05
Total Run - 2:41:56

I began my run with great running buddies, Jessica, Amy, and Melissa, they kept me motivated by continuing to talk the whole time.  The great thing about having running buddies is learning so much about them and they about you.  It's great to have someone next to you when it seems like it is taking forever to finish a run.  Jessica runs faster so she ran her 18 miles without us.  Amy and Melissa were also running 18 miles today, but planning on running with me for my 15.  We ran together until about mile 11, where I told them to keep going and I would finish up on my own.  I felt myself hitting a block and as you can see, mile 12 and 13 were tough.  I needed to take a little mental break, have a Shot Blok to reenergize, turn on my iPod and refocus.  I did it and finished strong and proud!  I felt like I could have even ran a few more miles by the end of it.  The best part was that my knee even felt AMAZING!!!  I am so happy with how everything went.

Melissa, Myself, and Amy after our awesome run today!

As I waited for Jessica, Amy, and Melissa finish their 18 miles, I stretched and thought about what I have done in the past two weeks.  I went from running a hard 12 miles with a knee that was sore to running 15 miles feeling great and wanting to do more.  With the right training, support, and taking care of yourself, you can leap over hurtles that seemed impossible a mere 14 days ago!  I'm looking forward to my goal next week of finishing a strong 18 miles and then in 2 weeks running an amazing 1/2 marathon in VA Beach.  Anything is possible...mind over matter :)

My amazing sister, Jessica and I, after our run!

See her blog: Pace of Me