Well this Sunday was my first official run with L Street Running Club. I have to say that I was pretty nervous about this long run for many reasons - 1) It was my first run ever with a running organization, and I do not consider myself a runner by any means, 2) I didn't know the route and was afraid I would get lost, 3) It was the first time I had run early in the morning since starting my training about a month and a half ago, 4) At 13.2 miles, it would be the farthest distance I have ever run.
In preparation for the big run, Renee and I decided to lay low pretty much all of Saturday. We did some chores around the house and tried to get to bed early so that we would be well rested. Unfortunately, I didn't sleep well because I was pretty anxious about this run. At 6:30 am, my alarm went off and I jumped right out of bed. I decided that my morning meal before these long runs would be a peanut butter sandwich, so that is was I had.
At 7:45, Renee and I set out towards the BAC which was the starting point of this run. We started the run at 8 am, and I decided my best bet would be to run with Renee & her running partner from last year, Lauren. The weather was great. It was just starting to get sunny, skies were clear, slight wind and temps in the high 20's. Our run started out great and mirrored the course of the Run To Remember pretty closely. Its pretty intimidating when about 5 minutes into our run all of the legit runner just blow right past us! Anyway, after 2.8 miles we got to our first water stop. I can't even explain how clutch these stops are. It gives us about 1-2 minutes to grab some water, stretch and recover before heading out.
We continued on through downtown Boston until we ultimately got to Beacon St at which point we ran from the Commons all the way down to Allston and back. I got pretty tired at about mile 7-8 and had the feeling that our pace was a little faster than I thought it should be on our long run. As I didn't have our Garmin watch (Renee did), I had no clue how fast we were running. It wasn't until we finished that mile that Renee told me we were cruising at a 9:30 pace, which is faster than my goal pace of 10 min / mile on my long runs. We ended up finding our rhythm and made it back to the water stop at the commons which signified the 9 mile mark.
At this time, I felt pretty damn tired ... but was actually having a lot of fun. I realized that it makes a huge difference to run with a group of people that actually enjoy running. I know that my run wouldn't have been nearly as good if I went out and did it alone. I helps give you the motivation to keep running and also allows you to run behind someone which helps you keep a pace going. After that last water stop we looped around the commons and down East Berkley, running right past Tufts Medical Center. I was definitely starting to feel pretty fatigued at this part and just kept thinking that these were the "Championship Rounds" for this run. "Championship Rounds" is a term used in UFC as championship fights can potentially go for a 4th and 5th rounds if needed ... these are rounds beyond what everyone normally trains for. For me, any mile past what I have run before feels like one of these.
As I made my way up Broadway I was starting to feel it. I felt pretty damn tired and my left knee was starting to ache a little. It had given me a few problems on this run ... namely when I would stop at water stops the first few steps hurt when I started running. As long as I stayed moving though, it didn't stiffen up. I kept pushing through at this point and thankfully got to the last water stop which was located at the 11.8 mile mark. It was actually outside of a running store and had lots of cool samples including - sugary packets for energy, glide, and a bunch of other stuff you need on these long runs.
After this last stop Renee and I finished our run strong. At the end of the run, the only thing that felt sore was my left knee and my feet. I actually made a tough decision right before we left in the morning, and that was which pair of sneakers to wear. As I mentioned before, I had been having problems with pain on the top of my left foot from my shoelaces. I actually thought this was throwing off my gait and leading to my knee being sore. So ... I decided to go back to my old pair of sneakers for this long run. Not the best idea to do a long run in a different pair of sneakers but I gave it a try anyway. In the end, the pain on the top of my foot was gone but I still ended up with a sore left knee and some pretty big sized blisters on both of my feet. I am not exactly sure of what is going on in my knee but I think I might have just strained by LCL (lateral collateral ligament). Its a small ligament on the outside of the knee that helps to stabilize it. Should be fine after some ICE and Motrin and I will hopefully be able to go for my maintenance runs this week without difficulty. I am actually going to look into getting a soft knee brace just to give the knee a little bit of support during these runs and hopefully prevent it from flaring up.
In the end, this run was a huge turning point for me. It was the first time I had ever run a half marathon distance, it was the first time running with a well organized club and it helped prove that I have come a long way from a month and a half ago when I struggled to run 4 - 5 miles! Although its still only half the distance of the actual marathon ... I was still pretty pumped up about finishing this one!
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