San Antonio Half: Week 15

Distance: 11.01
Time: 1 hr. 57 mins 22 secs
Route: Clyde Fant Parkway Trail

This week was a bit of a rough one running wise. It started off okay, but I pulled my right quad on Wednesday. It wasn't too bad, but it was a little more sore than usual. I figure that I'd just do an easy 3 on Friday and voila, all is good. Hahaha...didn't happen. Friday was another busy day and I just couldn't squeeze it in. I forgave myself and moved on. That's been a really important thing I've learned to do--not beat myself up if things don't go the way that I want them too. I did that the last time I trained for something and mentally, it just beat me up. Negative Nelly would just creep in and I would crack and just hate the rest of the run. Not any more.

This morning, my alarm went off and it was admittedly hard to wake up. I just wasn't feeling it and I kept thinking, "Why on earth am I doing this?" And then the answer came up as clear as day, "Because I can." I got up, grabbed the gear and headed to the trail. I decided to start in the middle of the trail this time. It was really dark and really cold this morning. If I started at Stoner Boat Launch (totally not kidding...this is the name of the marina) and then headed to downtown Shreveport, I'd be on the most well-lit part of the trail and would hit the darker part of the trail when the sun came up. Plus, it mixed it up a little bit.

I took it easy for the first two miles. It was nice because I was able to warm up the legs and the quad. It hurt a little, but not as bad as I had expected. Maybe the extra day of rest really did help. When I turned around at Sciport, the dawn was absolutely beautiful. Purples and pinks colored the sky. I kept going and by the time I reached the Jimmy Davis bridge, I was really happy that I left my jacket on...there was a bunch of fog. At mile 9, I started to get tired and I still had 2 decent hills left. I started thinking of this run as a last chance long run...last long one before San Antonio. I needed to make it count. I ran up the hills and then saw the boat launch. I hit the marker and was done. I looked down at my time and was shocked. My Nike+ is totally inaccurate, so I ran by the mile markers and used the timer. It was a good way to finish the run.

Two weeks until San Antonio. I feel very ready for this. After San Antonio, I have two weeks to recover and maintain and then I pick the training back up for New Orleans. Let's see how much this old girl has left in her. :)