I started counting this week on Tuesday, since we did our long run on our day off on Monday.
Wednesday: 3.13 miles
Thursday: 4 miles
Saturday: 7 miles
Total: 14.13 miles
It’s hard to get up early. I hate it. I lay in bed like I’m paralyzed, not wanting to move. But I know as soon as I do, it’s closer to getting done with the run. And then I feel great, especially when looking at the mountains through the eyes of the early morning sun. I should take a picture, but they’re usually a reddish hue with the washed-out moon peeking over the top. The sunrise almost always starts out dark blue topped with bright orange.
This morning, we planned to do 7 miles, five of those in the canyon. I was a little nervous… not gonna lie. We planned our route so that almost the whole 3.5 miles in were uphill. That was a good plan. I felt like an elite runner on our way back down.
Yeaaaahhh. +900 ft in about 3.5 miles. In the Bataan course, we ascend about 1300 ft over four miles. I’d say we’re off to a pretty good start. We had a decent headwind, probably 15-20 mph, and after we turned around it was still coming at us. I don’t quite understand that, but this wind is Texas wind. Just sayin’. We picked up our pace dramatically after beginning to go downhill. My pace before turning around was (gulp) probably between 15:00 and 16:00. On our way back, it increased to 10:00 or so. It felt AMAZING. I felt so strong, like I conquered, well, a pretty big hill. Here’s an illustration for you visual learners:
Hilarious, because it’s true.
Anyway, we need to find some sand to run on. You’d think it’d be easy here in the high desert, but no such luck. We need a big sandy hill, so for a couple long runs we may need to take a little trip to White Sands itself. I want to be prepared and know what I’m in for with this race. 25% of people drop out during because they’re not prepared. I want to be part of the 75% for sure.
I stumbled upon a (cheap!) half marathon right at the perfect time in our training. It’s in January on post… only $20 for active duty military and $35 for all others. I’ve never run a half in a race before, so it’ll be a new experience for me.
Overall so far I feel strong and confident. I’m so glad I’ve gotten over that slump I felt for the first few months of being here. We are SO killing our 19-miler in Illinois… it’ll be flat, for the most part, and at 700 ft above sea level. Maybe we’ll take on Grandview Drive. š
mercies per mile 