The Long Run: 18 Miles and Counting

It’s done, 18 miles under my belt. Fuck, that was not easy. But I’m glad I finally made it that distance. The build up to this run had me very nervous. My left foot had been bothering me and I wasn’t sure how it was going to hold up on this run. It had been almost a month since I completed a long run over two hours. I was able to make it through though, and with minimal pain!

I needed to start the run early as I had commitments later in the day. I had planned on the run taking me a little over three and a half hours based on an 11:30 MAF pace. This is a big chunk of the day! I decided to run along the Bear Creek path since it’s a nice flat run. This way I could do an easy nine miles out, then back to get to eighteen.

It was supposed to be a nice day getting up to the mid 60’s. When I started a little after eight, it was still in the 40’s. I decided to wear shorts, but had a long sleeve pullover on. I had to shed that about halfway through the run. The sun was out, a little breezy, but a perfect day for a run overall.

My right calf was a little tense for the first four miles. Then it seemed to calm down and it was all good. And for the first 9 miles I was feeling great. At about mile nine my pesky left foot started to hurt. It came and went, nothing sharp, but I knew it was there. I got really nervous not sure if it was going to get worse. There were times I stopped to walk a bit, just not to over do it. But honestly if felt better if I just kept running.

By mile 13 it was hard for me to keep my heart rate at MAF. I had to slow down significantly. It was interesting to see how my body changed throughout the run. I had started off listening to an audio book, Primal Endurance, and by mile 12 I couldn’t focus on it anymore. I switched to music.

The last two miles of the run were hard, but not impossible. My legs hurt but I was able to muster through. When I finally finished I was surprised how good I actually felt. It was a good run all around. These distances are hard, but I think letting my body get ample rest will help me improve and keep moving forward.