Lessons from 13.1 training: 8 miles

This weekend I ran 8 miles.  I ran EIGHT FREAKIN MILES!  Yes, I needed to YELL that out loud one good time!  Twenty four hours later, I was still feeling the runner's high.  I am so proud of myself it's ridiculous.  I'm allowed to be proud.  And in awe.  I was the girl that hated P.E. in school.  I hated running even more.  I'm not that girl anymore!  I LOVE to run.  There is nothing like the satisfaction it brings.   

When we met at 8am on Saturday to run, it was 19 degrees.  Brrrrrr.  Fortunately, the body warms up fast.  In many ways, the run felt easier because it was flat compared to last weekend's hilly run.  When I finished the run, I was having trouble getting my mouth to move when I was talking.  I think my lips were frozen!  Oh the joys of training in winter.


No grumpy tummy after this run!  I kept waiting and waiting...and waiting.  It never came!  I felt great all day.  Very, very tired, but I felt good.  I don't know why my belly decided not to be grouchy.  I had a Honey Stinger Energy Gel at mile 6, around the 1 hour mark.  (The Chocolate one, yum!)  I haven't needed to fuel on a run before. 
I don't know if my belly does better not being empty for so long.
Or if it was because I waited a while to eat after the run, even though I was starving.
Or because I tried a different electrolyte drink. 
Or if my body's getting used to the long runs. 
Or maybe it was because the 8 mile flat run felt "easier" than the 7 mile hilly run. 
Or combination of some of the above. 
Or completely coincidental and my grouchy belly will be back to visit next weekend.  Who knows! 

A few lessons I've learned in recent weeks:
1.  The first mile (or two) is always the hardest.  It's always sort of this way for me.  Without fail, it takes a mile or two to get settled in and get in a groove.  Isn't that true with lots of things in life, though?  Like taking that first step towards making exercise a consistent part of your life.  Or making changes to the way your family eats.  It might feel challenging at first, even rusty.  Maybe you'll even hate it and want to quit.  But, if you just keep putting one foot in front of the other, maybe you'll be surprised when one day you find yourself in a groove.

2.  Mentally divide the run up into manageable portions.  For example, this weekend's long run wasn't 8 miles in my brain.  It was 4 miles out and 4 miles back.  The first time I ran 6.5, I thought of it as half of a Half.  On shorter run days when I run 4 miles, it's a 5k + 1 mile.  For some reason, it doesn't feel as gigantic that way.  This, too, has applications in life.   You don't have to overhaul your family's eating habits all at once.  Perhaps you might learn to read ingredient labels first.  Or you know you don't want food dyes or High Fructose Corn Syrup in your house, so you start looking for those in ingredient lists.  Or maybe first you need to start incorporating more vegetables into your diet.  For the couch potato that knows they need to incorporate exercise into their life, they might first commit to brisk walking 3-4 times a week.  Or they might commit to Zumba with a friend twice a week. 

3.  Learn to listen to your body.  I have learned so much about my body in the past few years.  I have learned that it is capable of way more than I ever imagined.  And probably capable of even more than I think it is now.  I've learned the names of muscles in my body, how to stretch them, the importance of stretching. and good form for weight lifting. I have learned the value of nutrition and how my body reacts to what type of fuel (=food) I give it.  I have learned how to fuel before a workout and after a workout.  I am so thankful for this knowledge.  I can't imagine training blindly for a Half without it.  All of these things help me be more in tune with my body.  For example, during my short runs last week, my body kept telling me it was tired.  I think it was the push of the 7 mile run the weekend before.  I knew if I was going to run 8 miles this weekend, my body needed to rest & recuperate.  I didn't run Friday.  Took the day off.  I know it was the right thing, because I felt so much stronger for those 8 miles, than I had for any of my short runs all week.  I also know, though, when to push and keep going.  8 miles was all about pushing myself.  I knew I could do it.  It was just a matter of a lot of positive mental chatter and one-foot-in-front-of-the-other.  Learn to listen to your body.

I am reading this awesome book called Run Like A Mother.   I can so relate to this book in so many ways!  It is a super easy, funny, inspiring, and informative read.  Here are a few of my favorite sections from the book:

For an overstressed, overtired, overextended mother, there are few other sensations that rival a delicious run.  Once the sweat starts running down my temples, I daydream, analyze, smile,wonder, channel something cosmic.

When I run there's just me, with no agenda, putting one foot in front of the other, relishing the simplicity and grace of the motion.  

If your body never knows what it feels like to go longer, harder or faster, your mind will never trust that it can.

Whether you come in 5th or 5,000th in a race, realize you have more mental toughness than 99% of the people you've encountered in your life.

6 weeks and counting-
Dawn