Brilliant

Having missed last week’s long run, I was hell-bent determined to run ten today.  Last night the weatherman was predicting rain all day, so I packed for both cold and warm weather.  We made it to our house in Pennsylvania around 10:20 PM, and I was in bed and enjoying anAmbien-aided sleep by 10:50 PM.  I knew I needed to get an uninterrupted night’s rest if I was to have a successful run today.  Up at 9 AM, had breakfast (a bowl of Cracklin’ Oat Bran with skim milk and a cup of coffee), and puttered around for about 20 minutes getting ready, playing with the dog, etc., until I felt adequately digested.  The habits I have before a long run have the two pronged effect of relaxing me and building up my anticipation for the workout.  I jumped on the computer and made sure I had the there-and-back mileage correct.  Yep: 10.4 miles round trip, from the barbershop on Route 940 East to the Pub in the Pines and back. 

From the second I stepped out of the house, I felt grateful, and lucky, and brilliant.  All because of the weather, which was 65 degrees, with the breeze and sun chasing last night’s storm clouds out of my piece of sky.  I can’t think of anything better to do with a day like today than to run for as long and as far as I feel like.  It’s just the right–the brilliant–thing to do.

It took me a while to warm up, maybe two miles, but once I did I felt for sure gmap-pedometer had given me the wrong mileage for the distance because when I hit the halfway point my watch was well under 50 minutes. (This is why I need a Garmin, my runner’s brain thought. Need. I am ashamed at the way we use the word.)  The route is hilly, but for the most part they are gentle hills, with only a couple at the very end which require strategy and form adaptation.  I worked up a sweat, and the cool tailwind that pushed me up one of the first slopes brought a smile to my face. 

Around Mile 9 my form started to slip a little as I got tired.  I could feel myself leaning forward, and had a hard time keeping my eyes looking forward rather than at the ground.  Sometimes I run on terrain (like some of the crappy city streets) where I need to see what’s coming up to avoid stepping in a pothole or on trash and risking injury, but they have recently repaved Route 940 and the shoulders were smooth and rather bouncy for asphalt.  Got me thinking I should be doing exercises to strengthen my core, if I’m serious about running a sub-2-hour half this year.  How will I be able to maintain speed if I’m fighting to keep my torso comfortably erect?

Let me try and tell you how beautiful this run was.  Even though I was heading into the wind on the way back, it hardly mattered.  To be able to look up and gaze across the reservoir, or into the awakening woods on either side of the road felt like freedom to me.  I was running untethered — no Blackberry, no layers of winter clothing, no other runners to compare myself to.  At one point I imagined I had expanded so that I had no physical boundaries, but rather was moving through and with the water, the trees, the birds and the sky that decorated the world around me. It was simply amazing.

I finished my run in 1:36:51, licking my upper lip with astonishment (it tasted like I’d been swimming in the ocean, that’s how salty my sweat is).  A 9:18 pace?  I didn’t feel like I was working that hard.  I’d have believed it for a shorter distance, but 10.4 miles?  After I finished stretching, I got in my car and drove the route, fully aware that it’s less than accurate to measure running distances that way.  Anyway, the car told me I’d run 10 miles, and that I could accept — 9:41’s sound more probable to me.  So while I’m not quite sure how far or exactly how fast I ran, I’m sure I broke 10-minute miles for my long run!  That’s a first for me, and I am feeling hopeful and confident that I’ll be able to meet the goals I set forth for myself this year.