It's the Final Long Run!

Saturday I did not want to get out of bed. At all. But I slithered from the sheets at about 6 am, donned my running gear and set out at 6:30 to do the longest run of my life, to date. And I'm so glad I oozed out of bed.

The weather finally decided to cooperate and was hanging out around 70 degrees with cloud coverage and some sprinkles here and there. My only issue was the humidity. I wish I had brought a handheld waterbottle with me because I was sweating quite good and would have liked to replenish.

I saw a few other runners also out, especially around mile 7. I don't remember the runners, but I can describe in detail what their water bottles looked like :) at 8.35 miles I was back at my apartment for a quick water stop and then headed out to finish on one of my regular routes.

This is how I felt as I closed in on my doorstep. Finishing 11.5 miles is a huge accomplishment for me. It's the farthest I've ever gone, and it greatly increased my confidence of finishing my upcoming half marathon :) However I don't feel as though I've trained on trails enough, seeing how the Beulah Half is a trail half... I feel as though I should expect this:

And perhaps I'll be pleasantly surprised and the trail will really look like this:

Either way, I decided to wake up a little extra early this morning and drive to a nearby wilderness trail to crunch some dirt, instead of pounding more pavement.

This run was incredible. It felt amazing to do and even though the average moving pace was 10:15/mi, the effort was definitely there. I found myself driving home to shower and wishing I had the morning off so I could just get in a few more miles of the beautiful forest. :) I didn't feel like I had gotten to run enough.

Do you have a run that was so good you can't get it out of your head?
What's the farthest your legs have ever carried you?

Safe and happy running!