8 Mile

I don't know what got into me today -- maybe it was chatting with my fellow Philly Foodies the other night, maybe it was just the sunshine -- but I decided randomly this afternoon that I was going to run tonight.

Not one of my typical runs from the past few months, where I knock out four miles or so and cry about how I'm not as fast as I used to be.

No -- this was a test run (pun). I wanted to do 8 miles. I figure -- if I could cover 8 miles, even 8 slow miles, I'd know if I could do ten next weekend at Broad Street. If the 8-miler was a big fat fail, well -- then it was time to give up the bib.

Here is what Chrissey looks like when she completes 8 miles in a reasonable amount of time despite not having trained at all:



HAPPY!



How the crap do you take a good picture of your Garmin, anyway? I took at least 8 or 9, and this one was BY FAR the best.

Anyway -- so, I did it. I ran down 24th street, picked up the Schuylhill River trail at Locust, and did a nice out-and-back down Kelly Drive, which I haven't done in a VERY long time. I told myself I was just going to do four two-mile runs. After every two miles, I was allowed to stop, pause the Garmin, and stretch my hamstrings/glutes. And I did that -- never for very long, but I really think it made all the difference in the world.

The first six miles felt GOOD. There were a couple of times when my legs felt like bricks, but I pushed through every time, and I just felt...GOOD. The last two miles...well, less good. Mile 7 was rough...so rough that I walked for half of mile 8. I ran the last half miles and, despite my achin' legs, finished strong. Splits:

Mile 1: 9:50
Mile 2: 9:34
Mile 3: 9:54
Mile 4: 9:31
Mile 5: 9:53
Mile 6: 9:27
Mile 7: 10:05 (starting to fall apart)
Mile 8: 13:04 (walked first .5)

I'm so glad I went. Around mile 3, I started noticing that the sky was clouding up, and I starting thinking to myself "hmm...maybe I should have checked the radar." Sure enough, right at my turnaround point at mile 4, gale-force winds started blowing and it started to rain. I'm glad it did, actually -- it only rained for about 6 or 7 minutes and completely refreshed me. I was sort of disappointed when it stopped...mostly because I was already outlining how I'd tell the story of my "OMG SO HARDCORE RUN" where I ran the WHOLE SECOND HALF in the rain.

Not so much.

Playlist that kept me going:



I have eclectic taste in music. It's ok.

Question of the day: what's the better Rocky workout/montage song? "No Easy Way Out" or "Hearts on Fire?" I have such a hard time deciding -- on one hand, does it GET any better than angry, mourning Rocky speeding around in his ridic sports car? On the other -- yes, when he RUNS UP A MOUNTAIN. Gah. So hard to decide.