11 Miles in the book

I can't help but wonder something: will I look back on every previous year and just shake my head at the pathetic-ness that each year was in training?

If you're curious as to why I am reaching this conclusion, or pondering such things, look no further then the title of this blog post. 11 miles in the book. No, not 11 miles for the week. Not 11 miles for the month. 11 mile run yesterday. 11.18 to be specific. Yes, we have crossed the double-digit threshold for running a in a single distance. And it was an interesting run, to say the least.

The first 3-4 miles were very rough. The stomachs of both of us were ridiculously unsettled and there were feelings of nausea from both of us. At one point, both of us hinted at cutting it down to a 5-6 miler and doing our long run separately this weekend. But we both kept grinding it out, because, as we reasoned, what would cutting it short do? So we put in 5-6 miles but then that still leaves us having to do an 11 without each other. And realistically, the only day I could pull it off is Sunday, when I am on an overnight. Even then, it would take a lot of moxie that I don't know if I could find. So we kept pushing, hoping eventually our legs would kick in and our stomachs would calm down. And they did.

The time wasn't spectacular by any means, and certainly nothing to brag about. But what was impressive was the guts. The willingness to keep plodding along. The ability to keep the grind going. And the ability to, quite frankly, suck it up. That is what this post is about, and that is clearly what our season has been about.

And why do I mention looking back and mentioning the sadness that my training has been in years past? Because quite frankly, my training in years past was sad and pathetic! I mean, we don't have to rehash the numbers for you here, but let's face it...there were way too many days of "oh, it'll be ok if I take today off" and whatnot. Thankfully, that mentality has seemed to stop for the most part. We slip up every now and then, but face it; we're doing much better then we once were.