6 miler that became 10

I asked D.H. if he would like to join me on my 7 miler this morning. He thought 7 was too far but would go 5 or so. I rerouted the run and it was going to be about 6 miles (my plan called for 5.5). I decided to not tell him. J First of all D.H. runs shorter distances faster than me, and secondly he is almost a foot taller. Can we say LONGER stride. With that being said, I knew I needed to pick it up a little (something I have been talking about). I usually keep close to a 12 minute mile.

The first mile was a little shaky and had a hill, but I picked it up on miles 2-4. Low 10’s, which is a BIG deal for me. Once we hit 4 miles we were going to loop around and finish at 6. Because we were rocking it, we decided to go .5 more and double back. While running that .5 we discussed looping around another way ending at about 7 miles. This was our first mistake.

Our second mistake was when we decided that it might be a little longer than 7 we first thought. Remember I had been pushing it, I was starting to feel it. D.H. said “let’s take Pine Grove, I think it cuts across”. Second mistake, this about 6 miles into our (what we thought) 7 mile run. Unfortunately not only did we add 2 miles on this road, the let up was way past where we planned. As you can see in the splits mile 6 is where we figured this out. We stopped and discussed and even walked a little. At this point we figured it was probably the same distance to turn around or keep going. So we went for it. This is also where we started grabbing some snow, something I swore I would never do. And I brought a little fuel with me (thank goodness).

I kept telling him that I would have to walk when this mile was finished (which I never did). Luckily I had my Garmin, which I NEVER run with. This saved me, seeing the distance and my speed is what kept me going. After 10 miles we were both spent and knew that we were about .5 miles from home.  This my friends is how a 6 mile run turns into 10 miles.

Once home I knew my legs were in bad shape. I haven’t run more than 6 miles since my last half marathon (2 years ago, I think). We decided to take an ice bath. I have heard of them, and though many people run much further before taking them, we had run for nearly two hours. D.H. said we should just use snow. It was perfect because we have a door to outside by the tub (weird but works). Well I forgot to tell him it should be about 35 degrees. He filled the tub with snow, and cold water. When I first got in I thought my toes were going to fall off. I jumped out after about a minute with tears. I told him I thought it was too cold and said it should be 35 degrees. We add some warm water, then we were on our way once most of the snow melted. I stayed in about 20 mintues then took a warm shower. Here I am in my first ice snow bath-

Here are my splits that I am very proud of-

Mile 1- 11:52

Mile 2- 10:23

Mile 3- 10:16

Mile 4- 10:31

Mile 5- 10:47

Mile 6- 13:37 walked about .3 of a mile trying to figure out where we were.

Mile7- 11:10

Mile 8- 11:46

Mile 9- 11:27

Mile 10- 10:21

Plus .7 cool down

Finally, we try to not eat out much during Lent but I told D.H. he owed me lunch. And we had a free meal coupon to Black Bear Diner. I wasn’t about to waste all of those calories burned. I am so tired and my body is dragging, but I don’t have pain in my legs (ask me tomorrow). I have been icing the knee that has been giving troubles, but other than that pretty good. Maybe ice baths to work!

Sadly, I do not think I will be Shredding tonight.