It was fine. The weather was chilly, but not unreasonable, and I was dressed just right. I ran through some new neighborhoods and had good stuff on the iPod. My pace averaged 10:10 per mile, which is decent - in fact, on the speedier side for a long run for me.
The whole thing was just kind of meh.
I wasn't exhausted, nor did I have that "I just rocked that thing out, baby!" feeling. The more I thought about it, the more I figured it was the distance. Eight miles, I thought as I ran along, is just nothing to really write home about. It's not a challenging speed workout, and it's not an impressive distance. It's just kind of a middle of the road placeholder.
Then I thought about it some more.
You know how many other people I saw out running? None. Zero. Not a one. While the rest of the world sat inside and watched TV, I was out running and breathing in the fresh air. And before I started training for my first marathon last year, you know what the farthest distance I'd run was? Seven miles. And now, I can knock out eight without even thinking about it.
Could an eight mile run be more exciting than just a middle of the road placeholder?
All signs point to yes.
7 comments:
See... don't beat yourself up over it. You were out there doing it - way better than 90% of other humans are were just being lazy bums. You rocked it, even if you didn't feel like you rocked it.
Eight miles is kind of an overlooked distance, isn't it? Funny, because it is one of the longer runs for a half marathon training schedule. And definitely nothing to sneeze at.
In fact, I'll be running 3 1/4 8's on Saturday...
You know, to most "normal" (ie: all those lazy peeps that were inside watching tv, while you were running) people, 8 miles is a LONG way to run. It's funny how things change, huh?
Great way to think about it - you got to enjoy over an hour while most people didn't do anything. I think of anything over an hour as worth being happy about...it might not be the Saturday long runs you're used to from marathon training, but it is impressive to find the time and motivation to do it - especially with that crazy Jack to entertain you!
I was never this wordy until I started blogging! :)
Yahhooooo, I think it's great.
I totally agree. Especially after an injury, eight miles seems like a huge achievement. And it's more than many people will run in a lifetime. Not only that, you were out there when everyone else was doing nothing. Hurrah for Betsy!
I find 8 miles to be a weird distance too.Sometimes it feels amazing and you think..."Heck, I could just run 5 more and make it an even half!" and other times, you just want someone to put you out of your misery. Strange how the body works. Incidently, I just saw your blog for the first time today...my name is Betsy too, I am a runner, AND I love coffee! Are we long lost sisters?!?
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