What Was I Thinking?

  Well I haven't gone running since Saturday's 5K and I was feeling a bit out of shape. That was probably due to the pizza and inordinate amount of bread I had Wednesday with my tomato soup.

  So I decided to go for a longer than normal run after dropping off Benjamin at school today. I got back to the house and scarfed down a banana and four Ego waffles to build up some carbs for my long run. 

  After some stretching I plugged in my Schure earbuds in to my iPhone and headed out. I figured I should be reachable if I'm running for over an hour. The last time I went out running I lost an assignment for USA Today.

  I hit play on a couple of podcasts and headed out to the West Orange Trail. I usually would go running between 3-6.5 miles previously. On the last couple of runs I felt I was ready to extend my distance. And why not? The weather was gorgeous out there today. The temperature was around 65 degrees and hardly any humidity. 

  I quickly worked in to my pace and tried to keep it a little lower in anticipation of a longer run. I thought I would go to downtown Winter Garden before turning around which would give me a 9-mile run for the day. Not bad I thought. That was until I got to Winter Garden.

  As I approached my potential turn around point, I assessed my status. My breathing was good. My legs felt great and not showing signs of fatigue. I felt like I could maybe stretch it even further and if I over did it I'd simply pull up and walk a little bit. No biggie.

  I ran all the way to Oakland before turning around. This new point would give me a run of 13 miles or roughly half a marathon. The thought of me completing that run was inspiring. Now all I needed to do was keep a good pace.

  Honestly I was doing great with everything until mile 10. It was then that I felt some twinges in my going muscles. This then worked in to some aches in my lower back and my right calf. All the while I never felt winded which was pretty good I thought.

  I am proud to say that I completed my impromptu half marathon run in 2 hours and 10 minutes. It's odd for me to say that I ran 13 miles today. 

  Upon my return I soaked in an ice bath and took two Aleve to stave off any aches. Let's just say I don't want to know what it would've felt like if I hadn't taken those actions. My legs hurt so much right now. 

  Today was a test for me. I'm considering racing in next month's Florida Half Marathon in Clermont. I just wanted to see if I could do it. Apparently I can. Now all I need to do is to do it again. In the meantime I will maybe keep my runs to 9-11 miles for the next few weeks.

  I'm still impressed that I was able to run 13 miles. I guess it's the whole setting my mind to accomplishing that goal that's pretty cool to me. By the way, no one called me while I was running. Figures!