12.1 Miles...and I'm starting to question my sanity here.

The alarm went off this morning at 3:45 and all I could think was "Why am I doing this again?" But putting that thought away, I laced the shoes up and put some vaseline in a few areas to keep from chaffing, grabbed my water bottles (2 filled with chocolate milk) and drove down to the foundry. In mapping my route last night, I was intentional to try to find as flat a path as possible. For that, there was no better place than heading downtown. So, starting at the foundry, I spent the next 2 hours jogging around crossing the Chattahoochee 4 times, running Broadway from end to end and weaving in and around until I tallied 12.1 miles back at the end of 11th street.

Now, for how things went. Starting out, I was trying to run about a 9'45" pace. The first 40 minutes or so went without problem. I stopped for about 2 minutes during that time to hydrate and I also snapped a picture of the river. But as the run went on, I had to walk more and more. My legs fatigued, my chest started to tighten up and I started feeling pain in my shoulders. It was a really difficult last 6 miles or so. I probably ended up walking for at least 20 minutes...maybe more. By the time I got into the last 2 or 3 miles, my feet were hurting (my shoes/socks were soaked with sweat and I started feeling like I was sliding around in my right shoe) and I couldn't put together more than a 1/4 mile or so at a time of jogging without walking for a minute or so.

Now, where does this leave me? Well, I know that I have to continue building my base mileage. I've got to continue the mid-week runs and start working on some of the pacing and speed runs. And I also have to work on prepping better for these long runs. I'm sure putting in 3.2 last night and then only getting about 4.5 hours of sleep didn't help much. These are things that I will learn more as I go. In fact, next weekend will be a good time to give it another chance as I have a 13 miler planned. Maybe the Riverwalk will be back open for that run.

That's all for now. I am looking forward to watching football and enjoying a few cold beverages today as reward for the distance. Oh by the way, last night, I weighed 216. This morning after my run, my weight was 210. So no doubt, I need the liquids..lol.