Over 11 in Motown

Check out my run here.

I’ve been doing my long runs on Sundays due to various circumstances [my preferred day, to be honest, is Saturday]. Today, Laura is working on some prints in Montevallo, so I decided to come down with her and pull off another long run at our Alma Mater. Today’s run, if you haven’t checked the link, was 11.12 miles. I’ve never run this far in my life [all at once that is]. It was hard, and hilly – but it’s only another step towards 26.2.

Strangely, the base of my neck hurt a bit afterwards. I understand that this has to do with my running posture, and I also know that it’s something that I’ll have to correct on my short runs before I can even hope to on my long ones. My left knee hurt a little too – this is a new predicament for me [re: my history – I tore an ACL in my right knee while in college. Thankfully, I’ve never had problems with it. If you know people with ACL tears – I know of at least four others – then you know many of them continue to have knee problems after the surgery]. I don’t really think it’s anything major, but I see now why my running regimen is set the way it is [next week’s runs are all short – 5 and 6 milers, which I’ll probably run as 6 and 7’s].

I also took a water bottle with me – it was half apple juice and half water. I haven’t run with a water bottle and I think that doing so caused my right shoulder some pain. I needed something as I tend to start choking between miles 6 and 7 pretty much every time I run; I just can’t swallow around that time period. Today was much different.

Kudos go to 98% of all the drivers in Montevallo and the surrounding area today! Most of them not only saw me, but many would hug the center line or even drive in the opposite lane of traffic. They were all a pleasure to share the roads with and I was undoubtedly thankful for them.

I may try to run tomorrow as I missed a short run earlier this week…but at this point it may not even be worth trying to make up for it.

Today’s distance: 11.12 miles Today’s pace: 9:18 per mile Total Time: 1:43:26