8 Lessons Learned In 8 Miles

Tonight, I ran the 8 mile run in my training for my half-marathon and instead of driving myself 4 miles from home and knowing I'd just have to run there and back, I had Marcel just drive with me until we got to 8 miles.  It worked pretty well and I was happy with the route, but boy was it long.  You don't realize how far things are when you travel by car, but when you have to run it, it takes on a whole new perspective.

I learned many things on my run tonight:

• Make sure the person you are going to call in case of emergency has their phone set to ring, not on silent.
• Even if it feels like you just did it yesterday, charge your ipod the night before your long run.  This is especially true if you have a shuffle and don't have a display for your battery level.
• You CAN run without music but it won't be as fun and you'll find yourself dragging.
• Hydrating 90 minutes before running isn't enough time to fully empty your bladder pre-run.
• A knee brace saves you if you have previous knee problems
• If it seems like a hill in a car it is going to be a MOUNTAIN after already running 7 miles.
• You do eventually get good at deciding what to wear on a run: shorts, capris or pants and tank top, shirt, or sleeves.
• A slower Christian song is far more motivating than any fast, upbeat, pop or country song on your entire playlist.  (That's how I got through my entire 7 miles last week, also)

As soon as I got out of the car behind the start line so I would have time to do a warm-up walk, I turned on my ipod to hear "battery low."  I could still see Marcel and I know he had his ipod so I called him to trade me.  After 2 missed calls, I gave up.  I also realized right before getting out of the car that I forgot my knee brace.  Not good.  As soon as my walk was over and I started to run, I realized how badly I needed to go to the bathroom.  Also not good, but my run took me by a local park, so I stopped for a bathroom break, which added a bit of distance to my run.  I went from minute 22 to approximately 72 without music, which I'm extremely proud of!   My time, however, not so much, until you consider everything that I had going against me on this run.  I ran 8 miles (and I'm guessing a little more than .1 mile, that's not much, but it adds up!) in 90:56, which is about 11:22 per mile.  I've been averaging about 10 minute miles, but nevertheless, I never walked and I finished, which are the only 2 things I care about for 10/10/10!!!  Only 5 weeks away!