Long run Oct 20th

We hit the big 1-0. 10 miles at 6 am on saturday and it was amazing. It was just Jessica and me since both Staley and Zaundra ran the IBM 10K today.

I can't believe we did the entire 10 mile trail!
The south first bridge divides the trail into two distinct halves. There's the four mile half which is more populated and more consistently pretty. Then there are the other 6 miles. There are some amazingly pretty portions to this side of the trail. Unfortunately, you have to put up with a few things to get to the pretty portions. For example, a lot of homeless people sleep long the trail on this side for some reason. All the crime on the trail has taken place on this side. Also, you have to run along the street for about a quarter to half of a mile and cross a highway (I-35!) to get to the trail. Uphill (ok, not the entire way, but there is one killer). Still, its relatively quieter on this side and I think overall just a prettier run. Its my favourite side.

So, since it was still dark outside, we decided to run the 4 mile side first and continue onto the 6 mile side hopefully around sunrise. The nice thing about that would be that we still get to do the side that both Jess and I like and the killer hill on the street would now be all downhill. Yaa! Did I mention I HATE hills?

We started the first mile out really slow to warm up. We meant to speed up after that but the trial was so dark that we had to keep going slow for at least the next mile if not more. We took breaks every two miles or so for get a sip of water or take some gel. I think this was key in keeping us going. Since the breaks came so frequently, we never felt it get too hard to keep going. Wait, it might also have something to do with the fact that we stretched our backs out during these breaks too (both our backs were a little vocal during the run). We took it easy and talked the entire way. We walked maybe around a quarter of a mile in total so I have say this was a good run. I felt strong most of the way except at one point when my knee complained a bit. Stopping and walking for a little bit was all it needed and we finished strong.

Notable Sights:
- sudden daylight. I know it wasn't really sudden but it seemed like at one point it was still dark and it was dawn the next.
- a huge, obnoxious house with lines like the alamo along the road part of the run.
- a cocoon that was at least 3 inches in length suspended between two silk wires in a tree. Come to think of it, it might have been spider food suspended in a web not a cocoon. That's going to be one large snack for a spider.
- a duck on the lake gunning it towards breakfast. It was far enough away that we could just see it's silhouette and the massive wave of water it left behind it.
- Andre and josh (/jake/john?) leaving a whole hour after us to do 10 miles and getting done with us.
- Mocha Jess. She has trouble opening the gel packets with sweaty hands. So this week she tried to slit one open and reseal it with foil. She then put this sachet into her shorts with the cut side above the band of her shorts. At mile four when we took our first gel, it turned out, her shorts and her hip also got a little snack.

Keeping yoga in the mix is making sure that I have just the usual aches and pains that one would get from increasing mileage like this. Nothing that causes concern.

When I started running, if I started out slow, I would finish slow but we're getting to the point that we are making up all the time we lose when we start. I can't believe this 10 mile run was easier than the 9 mile run two weeks ago. It's not simply that I am getting better at this running thing but I think I'm also getting over my fear of running long distances.

I need to start keeping track of what I eat. What works and what doesn't. That can be the next post, I suppose.