Double Digits!

Today I ran my first double digit run- 10 miles!!! I ran at Russell Creek Park in Plano, which is just over a 3 mile loop. I ran it 3 times and a little more to get to 10, then turned around to walk back to my car. The good thing about running there was that I didn't waste any time waiting on stoplights so I could cross the street (the flip side of that was that I never had an excuse to stop running!). I fought the mental battle for almost the entire run (when I really need to distract myself I just count my steps 1-10, over and over again). I didn't really fall into a rhythm until mile 4, and miles 4-5 were the only ones that felt pretty good. My body kept trying to run faster than I should have... I'd start hurting, look down at my Garmin and realize my pace was 9:30-10:00 which is too fast for a long run, so I'd have to make myself slow down. According to the research I've done, my long run pace should be anywhere from 10:48-12:18 (based on my race pace goal). My time was 1:47:11 and I never walked, so that puts my average pace right around 10:42. In order to break 2:15:00 for my half, I need to be under 10:18. I still think that's do-able, especially given good weather, and the adrenaline that comes with running a race. Today was also really windy so that added some difficulty- and wouldn't you know that the wind changed directions after I ran against it going south on the last lap and I had to run against it again as I headed back to the west and north? Not fair!!! I wanted to throw a fit on the grass Lauren and Lane style.