15 miles & a layer of salt

Fifteen miles, 3 hours, 3 blisters, 1 sore toe, and a layer of salt so thick that it actually looked like I dusted my forehead and neck in chalk! But I feel fantastic!! I licked my lips a few times and they tasted like the dead sea. Yuck! Overall, I actually had much better time and endurance than I expected. But I guess that's the point of all this training. I ran 4 miles, walked 1, repeat, ran 2 walked 1, ran 2. My heart rate was still climbing a little higher than I would have liked, but my body is still getting used to all this exercise. I didn't fall short of breath not once, that is quite the accomplishment for me! I concentrated on deep breaths in through the nose and slow exhale out through the mouth. And it worked. My legs started to hurt around mile 12, but not nearly as bad as two weeks ago, and no knee pain either! Yay! Only one cough the entire run, finally these meds seemed to get rid of whatever it was that was causing me to cough.

Fifteen miles! I've tracked 15 miles on my odometer and wow that's a long distance. Completing 15 and feeling great after makes me certain that I can and will push myself to the limits and cross that finish line at 26.2. I think my adrenaline is still pumping 20hrs later.

The next thing I'm going to work on is running different terrain. So far I've done all of my long runs on flat surfaces. I don't have a running partner so I've felt too uncomfortable to run on trails alone incase something happens. I've stuck to more populated areas like the track. But I know NYC isn't as flat as a track so I have to work on my hills. Thinking I'll start this week by increasing the slope on the treadmill during my short runs and see how it effects me. Just take it slow like I have everything else.

I'm still so excited about this!!