12 miles! (I missed that LONG run feeling!)

I ran 12 miles yesterday! This was the longest I have run in over a year, if you can believe that! I don't know where to start, so I'll start right at the very beginning. (It's a very good place to start!)

The weather was gorgeous. It was warm and sunny but not too hot. It was my first weekend after 5 days teaching and I was really enjoying the freedom! I loaded up my MP3 player with pod casts (thankfully it decided to work), slapped on my visor, and hit the streets! 

(Oh, many of you asked how I manage to run with diarrhea. Well, there are two port o johns in my neighborhood as well as one in a nearby park. During this particular run, there would be times I would be a little farther from a toilet than I would like, but I brought some TP with me in case I had an emergency and needed to duck into some trees! Nothing was going to keep my from my long run!)

I mapped out my route beforehand so that I wouldn't have to look down at my Garmin. I didn't want to worry about my pace. I just wanted to get my miles done and check my pace after. Well, I did end up looking at my pace around Mile 9 and it was hovering around an 8:30, so I could not complain about that. 

Before I hit the road, I thought about doing 11 or 12 miles. 11 would have been fine, but 12 just seemed way cooler. I would feel like I really did a long run. I wanted to have that tired, achy RUNGRY feeling that I missed so much! I thought 12 miles would give that to me, so that was my goal!

The run itself actually went great! I was in podcast land for most of it, so that made the time go fast. When I was done, I yipped out loud: "12 miles!" No one heard, but it was fun to say! I cooled down with a walk and then spent the next half hour stretching. I needed it!

Oh, I also got to cash in on my RUNGRY feeling because we went to a picnic that afternoon. It is so fun stuffing your face after a long run- especially with things like chicken, ribs, macaroni salad, and spinach dip!

My half marathon isn't until December, and I really don't have any reason to be running more than 12 miles right now, so I think maybe if I stay healthy, I will do some sort of rotation on the weekends where I alternate between 10 and 12 miles, just so I keep a nice long run base going. It will also help me mentally. I mean, I am actually surprised how quickly I was able to build my mileage. Just a month ago I was complaining that running 5 miles was a pain. But once I decided to just suck it up and run more often and get more miles in, it became a lot easier mentally to get these long runs- and even the short runs- done. Running is soooooo mental. It's crazy how it works.

How was your long run this weekend?
What's your favorite type of food to eat when you're RUNGRY?