Keep Going!

"Unless you puke, faint, or die - keep going!" 

~ Jillian Michaels ~

       

Today I went out for a run.  The weather was pretty good.  Warm - not super-sunny or anything, just nice.  Early on, I had a destination in mind.  I wasn't sure if I was going to reach it, but I wanted to try!  For those of you who live near me, I started at the state capitol (WV).  I was seriously thinking of running all the way down the boulevard to Patrick St.  Now, I wasn't sure what the mileage was, but, I knew it was going to be a LONG run.  Probably longer than I had EVER run.  I knew the mileage to a certain point, and knew I could totally bail when I got there.  It was about 5K (out & back).  Even if I did that, hey - that's still a good run!

I cranked my "Fee" Pandora station and hit the road.  I felt great.  I mean, seriously - I hadn't worked out AT ALL this week! I should've been feeling good...haha!  I've been sooo terrible this week.  Anyway, I easily made it to the 5K possible turn-around.  But.......I did decide to keep going.  I was feeling good... I had run up & down some steps along the river (for those unfamiliar - there's an upper & lower path), to dodge downed trees from all of our storms lately!  I was having fun!  However, at about mile 3... I was starting to poop out a little.  I knew I was hitting 5K - which is what I'm used to.  That's where the above quote kicked in.  "Unless you puke, faint, or die - keep going!"  I wasn't puking...obviously hadn't fainted or died....so, I kept going!  It was so hard!   I got to Patrick St. and was seriously thirsty.  I hadn't planned that part out well.  I ran over to Subway really fast - and a nice man gave me some water.  Awesome.  I chugged a few cupfuls and quickly did a Google map search to see my distance.  It was at 4 miles.  I wondered if I could run it back.  I knew I would be at 8 miles!  I thought that maybe I'd walk.....but I really wanted to run it!  

I went for it.  To keep myself running - I told myself - If you start to walk - you're going to run up each flight of stairs - TWICE!  (BTW - there's a lot of flights along that 4 mile stretch!).  So, I kept running!  And running....at Magic Island I ran all the way out around the island.  I didn't take the easy straight shot path!  I didn't take it easy on myself!  I was chased by a little yappy dog....and I swear - I almost tripped over that dog 3 times! Ha!  Finally some little girl came chasing after the dog and rescued me!  I should also mention - it started sprinkling at random times during the first part of the run - but kept stopping.  It was about this point that it started again.  I was probably a good 2 1/2 - 3 miles away from my car.  I started plotting stopping points........but kept running!   The sprinkling continued....and picked up.  By this point - it was pretty cloudy-looking.  I was about 1 1/2 miles away from the car when it started raining.  I couldn't help but think - Thanks God...that will definitely keep me going!  I don't want to get soaked.  That, and the quote kept me going. Finally, I could see capitol in the distance, and I just kept plugging away.  

It was NOT easy, by any means, but I did it!  When I got home - I mapped my route.  Sure enough - 8 miles!  Way more than I've ever run before!  I seriously feel great......and feel I'm already looking forward to running tomorrow!  Ha!  I'm so glad I stuck it out.  It's really cool to push yourself and see what you're capable of!  For anyone interested - I ran it in just under 2 hours.  Around 14 minute miles.  Not great, but I wasn't looking for speed today...just finishing what I'd started!

To some....this is not a big deal.  For me - it FIRES me up!  I'm already plotting... I'm thinking of trying out the "Bridge to 10K" training app.  I've looked at it, but didn't think I was ready for it.  Now I'm thinking it just might be time! :)

Hope you're having a great weekend!