Running is hard...

This morning I decided I would get my weekly long run out of the way early (instead of in the afternoon) because I leave tomorrow afternoon to go to North Conway with my dad for a Winter Mountaineering course in preparation for our Mount Rainer climb this summer. All day yesterday I was kind of dreading the idea of running a long run this morning but kept telling myself I could do it and that I had to get it out of the way...

I woke up at 5:55am, had a bar, puttered around for about a half an hour and finally forced myself out the door and to the river. The run officially started around 6:30AM. As I crossed over the Science Museum Bridge I was starting to tell myself that 12 miles would be enough and I didn't really have to do that many more. I even started to think 10 miles might do it for today (mind you I was only at mile 3 of the run). When, all of a sudden... I ran into Marissa on the Dana Farber Team! I asked her what she was out running and she told me she was also getting her long run out of the way because she had plans for the weekend. Her plan was to do 14, and she was on mile 3, just like me! It was perfect. We ran together back around the Science Museum and out to Elliot Bridge (which was about mile 10 for me). At that point she went a bit further out because she would be ending at Harvard and I had to head all the way back into town. It was so helpful to have someone to run with! She definitely pulled me through and managed to get me to finish my 15 mile run at a faster pace than I had originally planned to run (we averaged about 8:22s). The river was plowed very well and pretty much clear the whole route out to Elliot Bridge, which was pretty impressive.

That said, I think my body might hate me right now. My legs are definitely feeling sore from the back to back long runs without a full week of recovery between them. Luckily, my next long run will not be until next Thursday (a full week) and the day before I head to the Caribbean for ten days! I think taking it easy this weekend will be very beneficial for me as well.