10 Miles! (and I *love* long runs)

Today had a 10 mile run on the training plan.  In the last few days I'd been mentally lazy and allowing myself to "dread" the long distance.  I finally snapped out of it after writing my positivity post yesterday and I dug in with all positive thoughts, "I'm going to have a great run, I feel good, I'm ready, I love running", etc.  Despite only doing this for less than a day my attitude had become more positive by the time of my run and I faced the challenge with a willing mind.

I'm going to back up for just a second...my mom came over last night and made a fabulous dinner (she always does!).  She grilled a ribeye roast and we had it with baked potatoes (butter, sour cream) and asparagus (with more butter).  I spared no expense in the calorie department.  Oh, and I made rice pudding for desert and it was really good too.  To top it all off she also brought a box of peanut butter cookies so I snacked on those all evening and some this morning too.  I blame the long run, it makes me feel that not only can I eat large quantities of food but that I probably should so I'll be stocked up on power for the run.  Maybe I don't need butter and sour cream for the run but who wants to split hairs?  Not me.

My run today was great.  I needed a change of scenery so I drove to Sausalito and ran on the Mill Valley/Sausalito Path.  The path itself is only 8 miles so I had to add in a few miles running down Bridgeway Ave in Sausalito to get to 10.  My mommy/runner friend Laurie met me there and we started together.  She's speedier than me though so mostly I was chasing her.  We've been having some freaky spring-like weather here and today was no exception.  It was gorgeous!  

Of course I had all sorts of issues in the 2 hours and 6 minutes of running, intermittent knee discomfort (I don't think it rises to the level of "pain"), feeling thirsty with no water fountain in sight.  Oh, I did get a bit of a friction burn (as soon as I got in the shower I felt the sting).  One burn was from my heart rate monitor and the other was in a random spot on my boob.  There must have been a fold in the lining of my sports bra, something was rubbing me the wrong way (ha ha!).

But mostly it was all good.  There were no hills to speak of and a really neat thing is that for most of the run I was on dirt or some other soft surface.  Look at these pictures, isn't it just a beautiful area?  When I finally got to stop I was very pleased with myself for not only getting the 10 miles done, but for making my mind get on board with the whole thing too.  All positive thoughts about long runs.  I know negative thoughts will creep in but I'm going to be there with a super-positive thought to push them out!  I love long runs, they're so relaxing.  Long runs are a chance to show what I can do.  My body is getting better and better at long runs.

Tomorrow I'll be hitting the gym for some time on the upright bike (or maybe I'll ride to the gym - there's  a great idea!) and strength training.  I'll close with some stats from my run today: