Day 79: Lucky Seven

I was nervous about today's run. I've never run 7 miles before in a straight shot. I had planned to do it on the treadmill, so I could track my progress and have easy access to water, the bathroom, whatever I might need to keep going. It's gorgeous out today though... sunny, 44 degrees; so I made a last minute decision to take it to the Park.

I bumped into my boss and his girlfriend on my way out. My boss is training for the Half Marathon in March. Always lovely to see coworkers when your hair is up in 7 clips, you're essentially wearing hot pants, and - as it was today - I was wearing an old article of clothing with a competitive company's logo on it! I'd blacked the logo out with a Sharpie, ghetto style, because I'm too cheap to buy something new... but it's still legible! Oy vey.

My boss said he'd run 7 miles himself yesterday, as part of his training, and he hadn't focused on his pace, just getting through it and enjoying it, and it was OK. I thought that sounded very reasonable and so decided to adopt the same strategy. What was I so afraid of? I could stop and walk whenever I wanted. I could walk the whole thing! Better to just do it than flail around worrying about it as the afternoon ticked away.

I hit the Lower Loop with the plan to run it 4 times (1.7 x 4 = 6.8) and then tack on a leg to meet the full 7 miles. I used the useless Nike+ piece of crap thing, but just for the clock, not the mileage; and the whole 7 miles took me 1:30:37. Not a great time (around 13 minutes per mile) but I'm happy I finished and didn't get hurt. Faster next time. (By the way, at the end, my Nike+ congratulated me on having run 8.39 miles; so much for Nike+ precision!)

Right now I feel completely fine, like I could go run 5 more miles on the treadmill, no problem. I didn't feel that way when I finished - I was tired then; but give me an hour and apparently, I'm rearing to go again. I've eaten a banana and had lemon water; and tonight, I'm thinking, cheeseburger... a fine reward for the passing of this great 7 mile milestone! Next weekend I'm on deck for 8 miles! OMG. Can't even think about that right now.