Everything's Going as Planned...

So last week I ran Monday and Tuesday and chilled until the Soldier Field 10 mile run on Saturday (which was to be my longest run, ever). I had two awful runs both days. My foot was falling asleep, was slow, was hurting etc... Hence I was anxious. I was expecting the worse, praying for anything better.

I chilled on Friday night since we had to be up at Ass Crack A.M. on Saturday. I wake up and it looks pretty nasty out. Rainy and no sun and not too cold, which I didn't really mind. I actually prefer running in the rain in warmer weather.

We get to Soldier Field at about 6:45 A.M. and I go through my usual routine, which involves some stretching, putting down some fluid, tying and re-tying my shoes at LEAST 15 times (can't be too tight, can't be too loose and both feet must feel the same) and having someone pin my bib to my shirt so it doesn't like like a one-armed monkey put it on (I can never put them on straight). The stadium is open, so everyone is getting ready in the halls of Soldier Field.

We get to the starting area ("we" is roommate, his girlfriend and another friend of ours) where I continue to re-tie my shoes and stretch. I am now terrified that my feet are going to fall asleep, so I continue stretching my calves and ankles. We are all joking around getting warmed up. It stopped raining at this point and everyone is ready to get going. The starting area starts moving so we all pop on our headphones and move slowly towards the starting gate.

About 5 minutes go by as we move forward. During this time I take some some deep breaths and settle down. When I am sitting waiting in the start corrals, it kinda feels like going up the big incline on a roller coaster. It feels like it's going so slow and fast at the same time because once you reach the top, or the finish line, there is no turning back and you're never really sure if you enjoyed it until it's all over. And down we go...

I told myself I want to run my first 5 miles in a 9:30 to 10 minute mile pace, so I am running with one of the girls in our group and just taking it easy. Soon, I find myself sprinting ahead to the shrubbery to take a quick bathroom break and then racing back to catch up with her. No problems. First five are just fine. I'm not breaking any speed records, but everything is heating up good.

At about 4.5 miles, I start breaking away from our foursome (they were planning on running a slower pace). I start picking up my pace unconsciously and then later notice that I have. Moving pretty good and at about 5.5 I feel my left foot going out. Shit! Asshole foot. So I altered my stride a bit to lessen the impact of my foot and it worked! We make the turn and now I'm heading back to Soldier Field, looking straight at the skyline.

For the final 5 miles, I ran something close to 8 minute miles, which way exceeds my goal. I start to get ready for the final mile push. I hit the last water station (MISTAKE!!! Gave me a cramp, but I did the dramatic water-over-head-cup-toss move) and head to the finish. As I get closer, we circle around Soldier Field and enter the north end. We go under the stadium and come out on the field through the players entrance during the starting line-ups, which was pretty cool. We circle towards the side line to the fifty and I take off. I aimed for an 1:30 finish and pulled off a 1:26 time. Beat my goal by four minutes. Fun time and I couldn't be happier.

It was a very encouraging run. I am about 5 months out of the marathon, and I figure once I hit July it's going to get intense. I have already stopped drinking as much as I used to and now I have to start focusing on my diet.

I never wanted to be a "blogger", so sorry for the length.

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