5 x 2 = 10

This morning I got up and knew I had to get in a run.  Although I would have rather stayed here and slept, I went upstairs and started hunting down my running clothes.  I had to decide what I was going to wear.   I found my compression shorts and a pair of shorts to wear over those.  The compression shorts are nice because it covers my legs where the rub together so it prevents chafing.  I never experienced chafing until two weeks ago, and then I realized that I never want to experience it again.  I guess that running 8-10 miles in shorts can cause that problem if your thighs rub together, and mine do.

I got myself ready, gathered up my Grape Powerade Zero, filled my FuelBelt water bottles, put them in the FuelBelt, grabbed a cell phone and off I went.  I drove to Steed Park and on the way there, I had a feeling that I shouldn't run passed the one mile mark, which is where the first road is that I would have to cross.   I had originally left the house planning to run five miles one way, and then the five miles back, for a total of ten miles.  It is much less tempting for me to stop and go home if I am five miles away from my car.

When I got to the park, I walked to my starting point, then called my husband to tell him what my plan was.  I was going to run back and forth between 300 N and 1300 N five times, which would total ten miles.  I thought it would seem to go a lot faster.  I don't know why I thought that, because it didn't seem to go fast at all.  The nice thing was that this area has the most amount of shade.  The further away I get from the park, the less shade there is.

At the beginning of my run, within the first 300 yards, there was a dog fight.  I couldn't tell what the dog was attacking, I thought it could be a child so I ran faster toward it to see what I could do.  The dog was attacking another dog, thankfully.  Not that I want a dog to be attacked, but I surely don't want to see a child attacked.  The attacking dog had slipped its leash and went after a dog that was on a leash.  The leashed dog was quickly checked over by one of its owners and I'm guessing her teenage daughter was told to take the dog and go.  The owner of the attacking dog was apologizing profusely.  They said everything was okay when I asked, they were just trying to get the dog back on its leash.

I continued my run.  I was glad that there was no more attacks.  I have to say that running back and forth does tend to get quite monotonous.  I saw a couple older gentlemen riding their bicycles.  One commented to me, "How much water do you need?"

 By this time I had a little more than 6 miles to go, so I replied, "Six miles worth."  They veered off the trail into the park for some reason and then came back on the trail.

The same man said to me, "You have six more miles to go."

I replied, "Yes."

He said, "Wow!"

His friend said to me, "Need some water..."

I said, "You need some water, I have some."

He smiled and said, "No, I'm fine."

We were just kidding back and forth at this point.  I enjoy the interactions.  They rode on as I turned around to start on my fifth mile.  I saw them again at about 7.5 miles.  The first one that had spoke to me said, "There is the water bottle girl."

The other man said, "I need some water."

I said, "I have some," as they continued riding on.

At about the seven mile mark another older gentleman on a bicycle passed me and told me I was doing a good job and to keep it up.  I said thanks.  It is wonderful to get some positive feedback on a training run, especially when you feel like you could fall over at any given second.  I still had three miles to go!

I had passed a couple on a walk a few times, when I was getting near the seven mile mark, the man asked me how many times I was running back and forth.  I told him five.  He gave an uplifting statement, but I forget exactly what he said.  On my way back passed them, I said, "One more time."

They both said, "Great job!"

By the time I got to the eight mile mark, I just wanted to quit.  I had to give myself a pep talk.  Mostly just saying that I have to do 13.1 next week, so I can do ten miles this week.  It must have worked because I finished the ten miles. I was sooooo happy when it was done.  It took me a little over 2 hours and 16 minutes, but I finished it, and that is what matters.

One week until my half marathon.  I think I am going to be ready!  I am excited to get it done, and I have to start looking for another one! :)