Running long is what got me into running. I liked track and cross country for the team experience, but training for and racing 5ks never really excited me like a good trail run or ten-miler. Even at age 15, I knew there was something special about the feeling you get when you're hitting your runner's high at mile 10 and you don't ever want to stop. Unfortunately, I think almost everyone finds it tough to muster the motivation to run long without a training goal. Sure, I'll occasionally run ten or twelve miles for no particular reason, but I'll never step outside and think Let's shoot for eighteen, it's been a while. Ironman training has evoked all those feelings I first felt before my junior year of high school when I was training for my first half-marathon. There's the excitement, the nervous energy, and the little bit of dread before every really long run, and it's not often I am able to have that much emotion about a workout.
I woke up at 6:00am today. The past few weekends, I've been realizing that it really does get light out much later than in the summer. The absolute blackness outside did not make it any easier to crawl out from under my warm covers. A banana later, I was pounding the pavement, running aimless loops around campus in the dark. I was timing myself and also using my new best friend, the MapMyRun for iPhone app. I haven't planned my own route in weeks, and it's so refreshing to just get out there and explore, but still get to know your mileage at the end of the day. The first eight miles were sort of a blur as I plodded around half-asleep through the morning mist. The next six were the highlight. I got some odd looks as I picked up my pace in downtown with a huge grin on my face. I felt powerful, and the miles melted underneath me. I was in that place where magic happens. I had company for the next six, which always seems to make the time pass faster. Before I knew it, I was on my own again, finishing out my last two miles in a perfect drizzle. I guess it's a little odd that the feeling of glory at the end of a really long run is what I associate high school with, but I really did feel like I used to in high school, when every long run was a new personal best and an achievment to be proud of.
So by 10 am, as the rest of USC was rolling out of bed after a long Thursday night, I had clocked 22 miles. And I almost immediately realized it would be my last run of more than an hour before my big day. Who knows when the next time I'll run twenty two miles in training will be. I'd like to think I'll find myself on beautiful trails this summer and want to put in a twenty mile day, but realistically I probably won't run more than ten or so without a marathon to train for.
I am still having very mixed emotions after today's run. I have a 100 mile ride in store for me tomorrow, then it will officially be taper time. On one hand, taper is a chance to regain energy for the day I've been working towards for seven months, on the other hand, it's a bittersweet taste of what life will be like post-Ironman.
College requires balance. I like having fun and I'm grateful to be at a school and in a situation where there are more than enough social opportunities. This is definitely the time to take advantage of those opportunities, and after Ironman, I'm sure I will. I just hope that I never forget that there is an incredible sense of inner peace, pride, and genuine happiness that comes from a twenty two mile run.
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