A running first for me

Saturday morning I set out early for my 18 mile run.  I had to be finished in time for Samuel's soccer game at 9:45.  I left at 6:35 giving myself 3 hours to complete the run.

A cold front moved through early Friday morning so I ran in the cold.  I was so excited to put on running capris and a long sleeve shirt and my ear/handband/ponytail holder thing.  I do love cold weather running!

As is typical for me I set out all my stuff on Friday night, but there was a problem.  I could not find my iPod.  I was going to run mostly in the daylight and I was excited to have some music.  Since I could not find it...very frustrating by the way...I decided to run with my phone.  I have never ever run with my phone.  I don't like how big it is compared to my little iPod.  I kind of liked having it with me. 

Drew texted me about a hour into the run just to say good morning.  I loved that.  I texted him with 6 miles to go so he would know about what time I would arrive at the soccer fields.  It was nice to have the little bit of communication.   I also took pictures while running.  I have never done that before either and it was slightly comical.  I refused to stop running to snap a picture, but they turned out pretty well.

It was a beautiful morning with big cotton ball clouds.  I was just so happy to be running!

With about 3.5 miles to go I was semi attacked by this little thing.  It came up behind me and would not stop barking.  With such a small distance to go, the last thing I wanted to do was stop, but I had no choice.  I did not want it to follow me.  It probably took 2 minutes for the little thing to go away.

As I was one mile from home I was forced to hop in the sidewalk.  I was about to be run over by maybe 20-25 bikers.  I sneakily took this picture.  How one can bike with so many other people is beyond me.  I would cause a crash within minutes.

My run was awesomely successful.  I finished in 2:45 and felt really strong.  I know I could have run many more miles.  It was a great confidence boosting run.  During my first marathon training cycle I ran one 18 mile run.  The other was the Simulator so the paces are not comparable to just a regular long run.  Anyway on that run, I finished in 2:51.  I remember that run was tough.  My stomach hurt and I could barely run the last few miles.  A 6 minute improvement with lots left in the tank is just awesome. 



My splits were
9:15
9:51 (had to stop at home to get my water and ditch my second shirt)
9:35
9:20
9:38 --took my first GU
9:23
9:16
9:14
9:08
9:09--took 2nd GU
9:09
9:04
8:52
8:49
9:04--took 3rd GU
9:05
8:40
8:16--did not feel hard at all!            Average pace was 9:09!