Finally a long run.
I hate to admit it but before today my last long run, which I define as +15km, was on November 25th when I ran my treadmill half marathon! I can’t even believe that. I had to double check my records but it’s true. That’s not to say that I haven’t been running, since I have, and I’ve done many medium length runs, which I consider to be 8-15km. But those long runs have been missing from my routine, and more importantly, I’ve been missing them.
You might ask why I’ve neglected them? Well, after running my 21 in November I knew I could still do the distance, so I didn’t stress it in December what with my birthday, the holidays, etc… Then in January we were sick, followed by me starting boot camp. Going from running 5 days a week to only 3 or 4 makes it harder to get the longer runs in, especially since I do speed and tempo on Monday because boot camp is on Tuesday, which only leaves me with Saturday for a long run since I have to rest before tempo or speed work. So if something came up that day, bye bye long run. But also I signed up for that 8 mile race I finished last week and honestly, I felt silly running anything longer than that. But now all that is over and this weekend I ran my first long run in a long time.
I love the feelings I get from a long run. I know I’ll be busy for at least two hours. I know I’m going to burn a serious amount of calories, and doing so in the good zone that works on your body fat. I also like the distance they add to my totals each week. But mostly there is a peace of mind I get when I run a long run. I feel at ease, and while sometimes the start is hard, as I keep going I feel as if I could fly. Today was one of those runs. I felt powerful and strong the whole time. I felt as if I could have run forever and I loved that. I was away from the chaos of potty training our two year old, of the fussing of my baby who currently has an ear infection, of the constant demands of life, my children, my husband, etc… It was just me and my treadmill and I could turn off and feel free.
I feel very much at peace tonight. I am already looking forward to next weekend’s long run. Maybe I’ll make it outside next week, but if not and I end up back on my treadmill again that’s alright. As long as these runs are back in my schedule I feel like the real me is back. Watch out world, I’m running and well rested. There is nothing I can’t do!