15 Mile Run - 9/7/08

Well, today was the longest run (15 miles) I have done in nearly the past two years - the last time being when I ran the NYC marathon in 2006. It was an extension of my now usual West Side run. Instead of starting at Engineer's Gate and running north to 96th street, I ran south to 72nd street and took it along the transverse and out of the park all the way to the West Side Highway, then making a left and running along the water to the World Financial Center (and then retracing my steps back to Engineer's Gate).

Although I have not signed up for a marathon, I am following one of the training schedules (just in case) to increase my mileage and pass various "checkpoints" to track my progress. While I am probably physically able to run a marathon at this point, I am in the process of getting back in the game mentally. So far, so good. I did a 13 mile run two weeks ago and a 15 mile run today - both with good results. For now, the times aren't as important to me as getting the mileage in and increasing my confidence. I began this morning's run with a fellow Flyer. I was happy to have a partner since it is very tough to do a run this long alone. It is great to have someone there next to you to push you along, help pace you, keep you company, etc. Unfortunately, a couple miles into the run her knee was hurting her and she had to stop and head home (hopefully she will be fine). We figured it was best for her to not force the issue and make things worse. With her going home, I was on my own for the remainder of the run. That was tough enough with the heat increasing, but in addition I didn't have my iPod with me since I was doing the run with someone else. Heat and no music - what am I going to do. I was pleasantly suprised to see that I was able to get along just fine without my music. I am used to having my musice on every run that I go on, but I have been easing myself off of my musice dependence over the last few weeks and it has been eerily nice.

I was trying to keep up a consistent pace throughout the run. It was slower than I usually run but the miles were the most important thing. On the run back, I made sure to take a lot of Gatorade and water breaks. My breathing felt good throughout the entire run and my legs held up very nicely with minimal pain or soreness. The part that has been given me the most discomfort lately has been my ankles/feet. It is probably time to move on to my next pair of sneakers.

The run was a success and I can now "check" off a 15 mile run on my road back to running. This week I cracked the 30 mile barrier for the first time in 2 years as well. With the increased mileage, I have to make sure and keep up my stretching religiously and to give my body the rest it needs, no matter how good I am feeling. All it takes is one stupid move or overly aggressive week to derail my training up until now.

Looking forward to Reach the Beach at the end of this week!