Last sunday I ran a little longer than a half marathon. By accident. Initially the long run was planned for saturday at 20 km. But. I went out for a beer with a friend on friday. The one beer turned into something like eleven beers and 4 a.m. So it was a lot of fun but I was in no condition to run on saturday. We spent the day at the archipelago cottage and that is where I had planned my route. On sunday we left the cottage because it was windy as hell and raining cats and dogs. Staying at the island just for the long run would have been dumb and unpleasant. So we went to my in-laws. And so I had to re-draw my long run in unknown territory. I tried to measure out a 20 km course on google maps on my mobile phone.
The run felt good, despite the bad weather. Ok, the legs were sore initially. My shins were actually hurting so much at 4km that I considered aborting to avoid injury. I didn't and the pain faded away at approximately 7 km. I knew I hadn't stretched well on friday as I rushed away to the pub in a hurry. So my hunch that the pain would fade turned out correct. I had some really hard head wind on the Naantali road, it was like running uphill. At 9 km the run started to flow and I sped up a bit. I got really soaked because of the wind and the rain. My running clothes must have weighed around 5kg towards the end. Soaking wet and happy. I just ran my first half marathon, without even knowing. I measured the run afterwards. It turned out to be 21.8 km. A bit further than a half marathon. I had just finished my first half marathon without even knowing. Hehhe... Time? Who cares! Ok, it was 2:21:28.
Rest day in between. I used a nail mat on my legs to get the blood flowing and the recovery speeding. My wife tought it was a stupid idea. It sure must have looked stupid. Me having a nail mat in my lap and weights on it while slouching on the couch.
On tuesday I ran home from work. The nail mat therapy might have worked. My legs felt suprisingly strong. After the intital warm up and after waiting at a couple of stoplights I found a good pace. My mind drifted into oblivion. No unresolved issues. No stress. No toughts. No nothing. I was a passenger in my own body. Aware of the surroundings. Aware of the legs drumming away underneath. Totally aware, but at the same time in oblivion. I know now that I'm addicted to running.
Runners high? Funny feeling. Might have something to do with sleep deprivation from the previous couple of nights? Anyway, carried away by that odd feeling and stronger than expected legs I decided to do that tempo run now instead of later in the week. I realized I was going at approximately my half marathon target speed. So I kept going. Even the last two km when the pace started to feel uncomfortable. Ran without the hrm as I forgot it at my in-laws place last weekend. Nice, I did a sub one hour 10k at 58 minutes. Some real progress. I managed to get on a working scale during the weekend and hurray. I've lost 2 kg. Some real progress. I love it!
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