Today was one of those runs that remind you why you love it so much. We had to run 13 which is approx. the distance of a half-marathon. When we run this distance we always joke about the fact that we ONLY have to do our 13 mile "long run" two times in order to equal our race distance. Right now 13 seems like a big accomplishment because pre-training we hadn't ran over 10 miles. In a few weeks, we will be begging to go back to only having to run 13. :) It's weird how your perspective changes.
Last night I told Dustin that I might not even be able to run today because of my failed attempt to run 4 miles yesterday (my knee starting hurting after a few yards). After yesterday's attempt to run, I walked a few miles, stationary biked for 25 minutes, and iced my knee a few times throughout the day. Even though I was skeptical, this morning I filled my hydration belt with expectations of completing 13 miles. I spent extra time warming up my knee. We started slow. I shortened my stride on every incline. We walked up the Kansas Expy bridge instead of chancing it. To my surprise I didn't feel any pain from my knee until mile 5! It never got to the point of needing to stop and, thank God, after a few miles the pain went away. It doesn't even feel sore right now! Even though it felt like we were running slow, I still ran only 30 seconds per mile slower than race pace (on long runs you are allowed 1-2 minutes per mile slower than race pace). It felt great. I know Dustin wanted to race ahead because it was about 1:30 per mile slower than his race pace, but he stayed with me the whole way. We had a good time talking and I really appreciated his company and support. It was a fun run!! Now time for an ice bath to get ready for Tuesday's run :)
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