Last Long Run

Well I did it. I finished my last long run in training for my first half marathon. It felt great! I set out to do 10 miles and around 5 miles decided to make it 12. I just felt really good and the day was a beautiful crisp fall day. The leaves are finally starting to change in North Carolina so the view was great. There were a lot of other runners on the trail. I ran near two ladies that ran the same distance as me which was cool. I wonder if they are running next weeks race too.

12 miles is the farthest I have ever ran and this was my second time doing it. I've read about a lot of people training to 10 miles and having the last 3 miles on race day be really hard for them. So I definitely wanted to get as close to 13.1 as I could while training. I think more for the mental aspect than the physical.

Yesterday's long run was a confidence booster. I ran around my goal pace and even impressed myself. I think I'm as ready as I will ever be.

After my run I decided to drive the half marathon course. I'm glad that I did because there are some nasty hills on the course and I'm glad to see where they are. I think it would be mentally hard not to know what to expect. Especially since a lot of the hills are in the beginning. I think I'd start to wonder if the whole course is like that. Luckily I drove it and know that it is not.

Last night my husband wanted to drive the course so he could scope out the best places to cheer me on. Which I found very sweet. While we were driving it he told me he was very proud of me and he can't believe how long 13.1 miles is. He joked that he was tired just driving the course, haha. He told me which hills he thought would be hard.

I'm really excited but starting to get nervous. I'm trying not to think of the hills and how they are going to affect my run. I just need to trust my training and go into the race with a positive "can do" attitude.

"I Can and  I WILL!"