Tuesday, September 8, 2009

14 Miles, A Sore Hip, and a Fantastic Finish

Saturday was a great run. I ran 14 miles through Downtown, Capitol Heights, and Cloverdale. I finished well behind the main group, but most of the people I run with are much better runners than me. So, there really is very little embarrassment with this group as I am happy to simply complete the run.

We started with a 4 mile loop in Cloverdale before we came back to meet the big group for 10 miles at the downtown YMCA. As I was coming up Jefferson (very hilly) my sore hip began to act up again and I considered turning back and stopping at about 8 miles. However, going downhill gave me a second wind and I was able to run alongside someone who I had met but had not really gotten to know.

We ran together for the remainder of the run, which grows considerably easier after Madison Ave. I am learning that the more I can stick with a long run, the better I feel at the end, and ultimately the better I will run at the Hyundai Half. The post long run feeling of: "I did it," far outweighs the temporary pain of the run. That said, listen to your body. I knew that my sore hip was not getting any worse, so I kept pushing. Your body will let you know if it something drastic.

Long runs can be extremely tedious by yourself. Trust me, I once ran a 20 mile marathon training run on a treadmill. You need to find someone to plug in with that can motivate you to keep running, if only by greeting you at the start and the finish lines.

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