Twenty!!

Today was a big run for me, a mental, as well as physical milestone, twenty miles. I put it off as long as I could this weekend, not running on Saturday for no good reason except to delay the inevitable. Not sure why I waited.

I've been thinking I need a change of scenery to help me get past the mental roadblocks I've been having on these long runs. There is a shady, 5 mile loop named Duck Creek Park (that has both water fountains and bathrooms), but it is a 30 minute drive from the house. That's another hour on top of a 4 hour run...and I can't stomach it. So today, I ran around the same nature preserve that I always do. But this time, I turned to the right instead of going left around the loop.

This was a big step for me. I turned right the very first time I ever ran in the park and it was a disaster. I was supposed to run 5 miles and a wrong turn, combined with fog and low visibility, caused me to get very very lost. I had no water (thank goodness it was winter) and ended up far away from the park. The 5 mile run, which was the longest I had ever run at the time, turned into 8 miles. I had terrible IT band pain and I was in misery. But I finally found my way and have never turned right in the park again!

I managed to not get lost today, and even had a really good run. This was the first time in a while where I have actually felt like I can finish this marathon!

Miles logged: 20