Wooo!

I ran 8 miles yesterday. I hurt EVERYWHERE, but I ran 8 miles!

Thursday's run went really well. It was basically the same run as Tuesday, and I felt really strong. The last 5 minutes of the 30 was a little rough, but it really wasn't too bad. I am really happy with how my shorter runs have started going. I do need to find some new paths to run, though - doing the same run several times a week will get old really, really soon.

I did learn something about this stupid cold that I just can't seem to shake: running does seem to make it worse the next day. I skipped Wednesday's track practice to try to give myself time to heal, and I felt a lot better Thursday. Then I ran when I got home on Thursday, and I didn't feel as good on Friday. Bah! Stupid cold!

Anyway, on to yesterday. Our long run was scheduled to be 8 miles, and I was definitely scared (and not feeling so healthy) going into it. I was glad to have Kelli's company again, though.

So, we headed out. The route, for those of you familiar with Houston, started out with half of the Memorial loop, then went up Memorial to Chimney Rock, turned around, and came back into the park with the second half of the loop. It was FAR.

We ran into Cassie part of the way through the loop, and she decided to run with us. I know we were way slower than she is used to running, but I definitely appreciated the support.

Most of the run was shaded, and it didn't get TOO hot, but the humidity was still pretty stout. Silly Houston.

So, the first half of the run went pretty well. I was amazed at how far it actually was. The water break on the way to Chimney Rock was definitely welcome, and it was my only stop for the first part of the run.

Cassie did manage to tell me at one point that Chimney Rock was the next street and was totally wrong. I forgive her =)

Turning around and heading back felt good, even though I knew how much I still needed to run. I stopped for water again, and I took a gel. I think that I took too much water with it. I definitely needed the energy boost at that point, but I didn't feel fantastic afterwards. More experimentation needed, for sure.

I did start to slow a bit on the way back. 8 miles really is much longer than I should be forcing myself to run.

Sometime around mile 6, my knee started to hurt. It was familiar pain - a sharp pain that is caused by tightness and knots in my IT Bands. I guess I haven't been stretching and rolling them often enough. Anyway, I ran the last 2 miles with pain in my knee. It came and went, but by the last mile, it was starting to wrap itself around my knee.

Yeah, I know I maybe should have stopped, but I actually had the ability to finish 8 MILES, and I wanted to get through it. And I did finish the 8 miles. I was really slow by the end of it, but I finished.

I did the 8 miles in around 2 hours. That is a really slow pace, but, to me, the important part is that I ran all 8 miles. The increased pace will come. I still have 3 months to train. I can do this.

I had trouble walking the rest of the day. The pain is mostly gone today, so I will use the roller thingy tonight, and we'll see how I feel tomorrow before I make a decision on whether or not to do my short run.

Of course, I feel pretty sick today. The cold won't go away, and running yesterday can't have helped (also, I went to a wedding and a house warming party, so, yeah =)). I might be better off taking tomorrow off. We'll see how I'm feeling. I need my health back.

But, seriously, 8 MILES!