onepinkfuzzy

Holy moly, after the sporadic running (including some six weeks with absolutely NO RUNNING AT ALL), I ran eight miles this morning!

Photos here.

I met Pat, Lisa and Karen in Chandler for an eight-mile run. I wasn't sure I would - or even should - run the full eight miles. And after the first couple humid miles in desperate need of a bathroom, I really didn't think I would do the whole she-bang.

But running in the urban jungle is fun - just when I needed it most, an air-conditioned gas station with a beautiful clean bathroom appeared. Whew! Much better - and I was ready to keep going.

Conversation flowed easily and our feet were carried on wings of laughter. As Karen said, Pat is an animal! And yes, I had a different term for the runner's high - the runner's "O". (No, I won't use the word, I don't want random people googling it and finding my blog, ha!) I think Pat's ears were ready to fall off by that time (about six miles in). Poor guy, running with three women.

I enjoyed running next to water. Okay, it was a nasty canal, but still. Water, people. Water isn't a common sight in the desert! Ducks and even a heron were our companions, along with some horses!

Lisa and I kicked it up a notch for the last half-mile, just to see what we could do. At one point, we realized we were running sub-nine-minute miles, and tried to up it just a touch to reach an 8:30-minute-mile pace, but we didn't quite make it. By the time we hit the last streetlight, we were both ready to vomit. It was a blast! A little bit more jogging as a cool down got us 8 miles.

It was a wonderful reminder of why I like to run: the friends, the camaraderie, the lungs working, the "O". (Which, by the way, usually takes me about 1.5 hours to reach, and sure enough, 1 hour, 25 minutes had passed by the time the endorphins kicked in. Then I was ready to keep going, and even up the pace! Note to self: Must remember that it takes that long to warm up and quit complaining for the first six miles.)

I definitely feel like this was a great confidence booster heading into the Run'n'Roll in a couple weeks. I could feel the base fitness that the last few years of running has given me; I know it's not completely gone. I'm not starting all over from scratch. I'm out of shape and weigh 30 pounds more than last May (yikes! 30 lbs in just over a year!!!), but it's 30 pounds I've lost before; shape I've been in before; a healthy place I know I will get back to (although I'll be fine losing just 15-20 of those pounds; I was unhappy with my body at my skinniest). Eh, I'll do it, no worries. I'll give it the time and space to occur, and just keep rolling out of bed, putting my clothes on and heading out the door. The rest will fall into place.