A Midsummer's Night Run

I sit here, exactly 48 hours since the run, and everything hurts :)

My neck, my shoulders, my back, my legs, my head, I have a fever and I am simply counting down the hours till I have a wonderful reunion with Nyquil.

Saturday's run killed me. Destroyed my body and pushed me to the limits, making me even more nervous for my half marathon in now less than 3 weeks :)

I do however, believe there are some really valid reasons why I feel like I have been hit by a bus. I am a little surprised by how I feel; considering this race (15km) was actually a shorter distance than what I had been running in my long training runs.

1. A night run - I did not at all enjoy doing an evening race, I think mainly because I have to really work to control my nerves and that meant about 12 hours of nervousness pre-race. I much more enjoy waking up, having a couple hours and than doing the race...instead of just waiting around feeling nervous :)

2. I pre-race bug - I do believe it is more the flu I am fighting now, and I think I was probably coming down with that prior to the run, only to have the 15km exhaust my body more.

3. Tough course - I ran with a couple really elite running friends, and though one of them graciously paced with me till the 3rd km, I knew I would not come in anywhere near their times :) but it was great comfort to me to hear them complain about how hard they felt the course was. It reassured me that I wasn't the only one who did not love the hills, roads, sidewalks, dirt and rocks :)

4. Saturday Morning Massage- My massage therapist is amazing. Unbelieveably amazing and has influenced my running greatly, from working out my sore leg muscles to completely changing the way my shins feel during runs. However, I typically get massaged on my day off (Saturday) and this week that happened to fall on race day. I was holding a lot of tension in my neck and she worked that out wonderfully but I feel that caused me to be a little tighter in the neck and shoulder area during my run. Though now I can't wait to see her this week!! :)

I felt really good about my time though, considering how awful I felt. I started to feel sick and sore at the 8th km, but still finished the whole 15km in 2:10:37. I wanted to do it in 2hrs but considering what the last few km were like, I am extremely happy with the time. Needless to say I will be taking a day or two to let my body rest and my immune system recharge.

It was a nice big run, and only 3 weeks left now till the Half Marathon. It's hard to believe how fast this 18 week training program has gone. I appreciate all you who read this and follow along and encourage me, I wouldn't be where I am at if it wasn't for you :)