Tonight's run may have been the single best run I've had in the last 6 months. I ran a hilly course that I have come to adore, and for some reason felt like racing it tonight. All was smooth for the first 10K of it even if the first 4 miles are a steady uphill climb. From mile 4 to 6 it's pretty flat, with moments of nice downhill running, but then at the 10K mark, it's the most difficult uphill I've encountered on any run. By this point, my legs were starting to feel like jello, as I'd been holding 7:20 miles until that point. The climb was brutal, the hill lasts for almost a half mile, and drags along...it felt like I was one of the slowskys, even though I kept pushing myself to try and keep the pace up. When I was finally over the top, my quads were burning, I was heaving for breaths...and yet had never felt more alive. I had conquered the beast. That is, until the next one reared it's head 2 minutes later. The thought of the glorious 1.5mile downhill after that hill pushed me through it, but at that point I felt like I had slowed to a mere jog once again. My legs were shaky and enough salt had accumulated on my limbs to fill an industrial sized salt shaker! The last 2 miles proved to be a-okay, I finished the 10 in 1:17.20 (avg. 7:45/mi). Will I ever race this loop again? Probably not. But did this give me confidence to move forward and conquer a 1:45 half marathon? You BETCHA!
You really never know what your body can accomplish until you try to do it! Now, if only my legs will cooperate after work today to get in a slooooow 6 mi recovery :)
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