Monday, July 18, 2011

First time doing 9 miles!!!!

Did 9 miles last Saturday for the first time ever!  Couldn't help but feel a little badass for surviving a distance I didn't think I could do when I started running that morning.  At Mile 2, I stopped to walk so I can drink some water and paused my Garmin.  I didn't hydrate as well as I should have and was totally feeling it at Mile 2.  Well, I must have gotten distracted because about half a mile later, I realized I forgot to un-pause the Garmin!  ACK!  I did not want to run more than I needed to that day (it was hot), but I wanted my Garmin to record the 9 miles I was about to do, regardless. 

Has that ever happened to you? 

So I pushed myself until I saw 9.03 miles on my Garmin and stopped, but knowing full well I did 9.53.  Regardless, it's the longest distance I've done so far, and I still felt badass at the end, but not without suffering.

My knees started to ache at Mile 3 and I walked and took water breaks at 4, 6, 7, and 8.  I wanted to be able to walk the next day and I'm glad I took those breaks because my knees felt better at the end.  I slowed down too and really just focused on finishing the distance.

What do you do about sore knees?  Does it ever go away with increasing distance?

After completing 9 miles, it occurred to me that my next run could be a 10-miler and after that, I am technically ready and trained for a half marathon!!  WOW.  I never thought I'd get this far!  With Ragnar in late September, I still have time, so I'm going to work my way up as gradually and as safely as I can and hope my knees get used to the mileage.

Anyone else training for a race distance you haven't done yet?  How's the training going?

3 comments:

  1. Big woo hoo on distance PR! :) Thats an awesome feeling! I actually did the same thing with my garmin this wkd and had to run extra .33 mi so the number was even haha

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  2. Thanks, Ashley! Yeah, don't you hate that? Forget to start it again? Thank goodness my Garmin beeps when it's about to go on save mode - that's how I found out. I probably shouldn't pause it in the first place but I felt like on a normal run, I wouldn't take any walking breaks.

    Does anyone else pause their Garmin as you a) to drink, b) while waiting for traffic, c) adjust things like your ponytail, shoelaces, etc..??

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  3. Way to go!!! The first time I ran longer distances (which has only been in the last few months) looking at the Garmin saying 8,10 or 12 miles just made me smile. :) Isn't it a great feeling?! Yesterday was my first half marathon and it still feels unreal!

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