8 miles! 8 miles!

I did it! I ran my planned 8 miles at Centennial Park this afternoon in 1:47:24. It was grueling and difficult and at mile 3, I was pretty ready to give up but I didn't. I'm so proud of myself, really. My knee started hurting about at mile 2 so I did a variation of run/walk every quarter mile. When it was really hurting, I'd walk a half, run a quarter, but by the end, it was back to the original plan. I was so exhausted and starving when I finished but at least I finished.

This trail was a great find though since it's much much closer than the one in Brentwood. It's a mile loop, with every quarter marked. Paved, flat, and very pretty. Also helped that today was perfect running weather with 68 degrees, sunshine, and a light breeze.

Trail

View of the Parthenon over the lake/pond

My whole body is pretty achy though. I popped some ibuprofen when I got home but my lower back especially is bothering me. The combination of my yoga class yesterday and the run today really kicked my butt. So, what do I plan to do about it? I'm going to another class tomorrow morning! :) This one is only a level II though so it should loosen me up a bit. I don't want the running to shorten my hamstrings and counteract all the goodness I have been achieving in yoga!

Alright, I'm exhausted but wanted to document my accomplishment today. Certainly not on the pace to break world records, but it was right on for making my under 3 hours goal (on pace for a 2:55, but I was definitely slowing towards the end). I also tried to keep my walking mile time under 15:00/mile in order to keep the pace up, even if I couldn't run all of it.

Good night! Hoping for less sore muscles in the morning!