Back to Double-Digit Running

Today marked an unexpected triumph in my attempt to return to last year's endurance level in running. Well...maybe not completely to last year's level: I was then training to last a 26.2 mile marathon run. This year, I just want to be able to run in various half-marathon events that interest me. I did well in one in November, even setting a personal time record, finishing under two hours. However, I missed the Jacksonville race I had planned to run on December 18. Next month's Ocala Half-Marathon is something that I have been looking forward to running in for a long time: last year I completed the Ocala Marathon but due to a leg injury had to walk for the race's final seven miles. I want a more pleasant running experience down there among the rolling hills and horse farms. Then, in February I want to run the Gainesville FivePoints Half-Marathon again.

With the intention of getting used to running up and down hills for that upcoming Ocala race, on Christmas Eve I embarked on a different training course that involved some easy hills, instead of just my flat neighborhood streets. I ran 3 miles then and felt pretty good. Christmas, my "off-day" regarding running, saw me run a couple of laps around my block. Then, this afternoon, after gorging myself on food (and many carbohydrates) the day before, I set out on a more ambitious run that combined my neighborhood course with the hilly NW 53rd Avenue path. The end result was that I ran 10.21 miles in a typical time (for me) of 1:35:27. At the end of the run I felt like I could have gone further, but stuck to my recent "rule" of letting the half-marathon races themselves be the tests of my distance endurance. The temperature throughout the run hovered around 70 degrees with the humidity around 50% (very close, in fact, to the conditions during my memorable 20 mile Christmas run in 2010).

My initial goal for today's run was to succeed in running 7 miles. But carb loading is a pretty awesome thing: I felt crummy and short on confidence at the beginning of the run. But as it wore on, incredibly I seemed to have more energy, and the confidence surged. So I tacked on those extra miles at the end. I feel ready to run that Ocala race, although I'll have to wait until January 22.