The Time of My Life

I've been MIA from the blogosphere for a few weeks. First I got sick (thankfully not H1N1) and then I started my studying for the GMAT. (Last week, I studied over 15 hours of algebra, geometry, etc. It was a real party.) Excuses, excuses, but even more unfortunately, I took two full weeks off from running or really exercise of any form. Last week I was mostly back on track with the training schedule for January's marathon and finished the week with a respectable 18 miles ran. Tuesday was an easy 2 miler, Thursday was a 6 mile death march. (As a tip, no matter how hungry you are, don't ever eat a hot dog, a tortilla and several handfuls of beef jerky and then hit the road for a six mile run. Around mile 3, I was praying to throw up and considered committing my first bulimic act. I kept my food down and finished the run, but it was ugly.) ************************************************************************************* On Sunday, my 10 miles represented my first double digit run since the marathon. Up to this point, I have seriously doubted the existence of the "runner's high" that I have heard so much about. The best feeling I have ever felt during or after a run was a combination of disbelief and relief at the completion of each mile. Well, call me a believer, but I think I caught a glimpse of the running holy grail on Sunday with the best run of my ten-month long running career. The weather was perfect, I felt great, I was in the zone and my pace felt completely natural. Through some magic feat, I was able to keep a pace just below 11-minute miles for the entire 10 mile run, something I haven't done in a long time. Since I am targeting a 12-minute mile pace for January, I am thrilled with any run that adds distance and keeps me below my goal pace. Essentially, I kicked that run's ass! At the end, I felt like I could have kept going, but we were running late for a Humane Society event that involved us walking two miles with our dog. I will admit that some of the euphoria was gone at the end of the dog walk and I didn't have much desire to move for the rest of the day. I was ready for bed at roughly 8pm, but as I fell asleep, I was still very much on the high of my best run ever.