Moving Fuel and Long Run

Rather than talk about how crap-tastic moving all weekend was, let's just talk running, ok? Great. But, before we get to that I NEED to say a HUGE thank you to my mother & father-in-laws. OMG. Seriously. Best in-laws ever. They helped with the move SO SO SO much. We couldn't have done it without them. Seriously. I'm SO lucky to have them. THANK YOU!!!

Ok, back to running. Sorta. So, I took a full blown rest day Friday. It wasn't planning. But, after 12am phone calls Thursday night, I just couldn't pull myself out of bed Friday morning. Whatever. I think my body needed it. Then, Saturday we moved. ALL. DAY. I reallllly did think about hitting the gym up before the move started for a quick session, but decided against it so I'd have maximal energy for the move. I needed it. Good decision, Meagan. So, Saturday was mooooooving. Perfect cross training. Oh, and I feel like I should note I started the day with the best fuel for a full day of physical activity/moving ever.

Ice cream for breakfast? SOLD! To be fair, it was pretty much all the food we had left in our apartment. And, it just sounded good. Don't judge.

After the long day of moving, I knew Sunday's long run was questionable. I went to bed Saturday night after laying all my running stuff out just telling myself to get out there and that it wouldn't matter how far I went. Not a great mental attitude, but hey-- I did get up when my alarm buzzed at 7:00am Sunday morning and got out the door. Didn't hurt that I had this amaziness to look forward to...

60s? In July?!?! Yes, please!

So, I Garmin-ed up and was out the door by 7:30am. It was my first run from the new house and felt GREAT to just be able to run and not have to drive somewhere to then run. Best part of the new house for sure. I'm sure the Hubs agrees too. :)

The first few miles were uneventful. My muscles were heavy and tired from all the moving action. I kept telling myself to just make it down this first out and back I was doing, which would bring me to about 7 miles. I told myself if I made it to that, I could stop.

Mile 1: 9:49
Mile 2: 9:52
Mile 3: 9:44
Mile 4: 9:47
Mile 5: 9:34
Mile 6: 9:46
Mile 7: 9:52

I tried to keep it under a 10:00 pace and did, so that felt good. It was taking a little more effort than I would have liked, but given that I spent the whole day before moving and didn't really eat a solid dinner the night before, I thought I felt pretty good.

I made it back to where I started the out and back and decided to just keep pushing til mile 10.

Mile 8: 9:37
Mile 9: 9:41
Mile 10: 9:37

Mile 10 turned into 10.5 due to bad distance estimation. I stopped at 10.5 to fill up my water bottles and since I was already past 10, I figured I mine as well just suck it up and do all 16. So, I downed some sportsbeans and set back out.

Mile 11: 9:31
Mile 12: 9:50
Mile 13: 9:50
Mile 14: 10:00
Mile 15: 9:45
Mile 16: 10:09

9:45 average pace.

Definitely not my fastest average pace for a long run, but I was intentionally trying to just keep it at 10:00s, so I'm happy. I wish that mile 14 was 9:59, just so I didn't hit 10:00 at all til my cooldown mile, but again-- whatever. For all the work I did Saturday I was really happy I was able to do all 16 and keep a decent (for me) pace. It was definitely a confidence boosting run, which makes me feel GREAT. The idea of doing 10 more miles is extremely daunting right now and just feels crazy, but I'm sure that feeling'll go away as I build more mileage.

I spent the rest of my Sunday at a bridal shower and then went to dinner with the Hubs. On the menu? Chicken tacos, but more importantly $.99 margaritas!

Much deserved and a great way to end the weekend. Cheers!