Today, Sara, Melanie and I completed a 9-mile trek through Richmond. It was a moderately warm, rainy day, in the low 50’s (F); warm for late December. At times, it rained hard – but never for long. We ran mostly on sidewalks, so were jumping left and right to avoid puddles. The best we could was to try to avoid them… our feet and clothes were soaked through early on. We got somewhat lost, but friendly neighbors pointed us to the next major street without incidence. One correcting turn and we were back on course.

While I was the slowest of the group, I kept up through the more than the first half, but took a few walking breaks in each of the following miles. After 4 miles, Sara and I ate our Gel (goo?). Mine was the slightly strange tasting PowerBar Double Latte Gel which contains 50mg of caffeine. Fortunately, I ate one yesterday before running a dozen or more miles from home, so knew it would sit well. That single bowl of oatmeal seemed a long ways off by then!

We netted out to 9.28 miles, a few feet short of a 15K. Of course, I forgot to restart my Garmin 205 for a short while after we stopped for a teammate’s bathroom break. So, this was the farthest I have ever run, by 3 miles. It was hard, but know now that I can actually complete a 1/2 marathon even if I need to walk a portion of the course. That said, 9 miles is a long way!

My usual long-run encouragement, other than my new found friends, is my LiveStrong bracelet always found on my right wrist. I try to think that if Lance could do what he did, I can certainly keep myself moving. I hate to admit that I talk to it (in my head) when the going gets tough, but it is what helps when I’m by myself on a long stretch of a deserted road.

Today, my foot held out well after taking care to not lace the shoes up too tight. I apparently broke a blood vessel in my right foot, under my longest toe. It’s a bit tender, but better after some drainage. I will enjoy resting tomorrow and putting it up with some ice tonight! Total distance for the week — over 20 miles!!!

Click here for the run details…