Willpower

Kristen's sister Kelly has been in town this weekend taking care of a bunch of stuff for her wedding. Friday night's bachelorette party (and my time entertaining the bachelor, Adam) was enough for us to postpone our 11 miler to this morning. We spent yesterday afternoon getting our butts kicked by Kelly instead, who has taken up professional yoga instruction. For a kid who can't touch his toes it was pretty painful.

I was still feeling the downward dogs this morning when we dragged ourselves out of bed at 6:30 am, strapped on our water belts, and headed out into the humid air for our long run. Both of us were feeling a little off after the 2 week lag from our last long run (last week was a drop back week) so we were pretty nervous about being able to crank out an 11. My longest run ever was 9 miles two weeks ago, so 11 seemed a tad daunting. But, the key to marathon training seems to be willpower and a positive attitude (and/or stubborness) so we trodded on, keeping a good slow pace. We did our usual loop around the bay and headed back along Carson Beach, where the bums were still sleeping and the sun was really starting to pound. By mile 6 we were relishing in the moments of shade, and were thankful when we hit the end of UMass and started heading back. To lighten the mood around mile 8 I tried to sing Kristen's power song "Stronger" but it was difficult not really knowing the words or the rhythm. Sooo I started singing Men At Work instead, which seemed appropriate:

Ain't nothing gonna break my stride
Nobody's gonna slow me down
Oh no, got to keep on movin'

We added a few little "add-ons" to the run to make sure we would end 11 miles close to the house under the assumption that we would have little motivation so close to home. It worked perfectly and we were able to finally stop as the Nike+ hit 11.00 about a block from K street. Walking after so much running felt bizarre to me, legs all tight and tingly. Kristen and Kelly went off to Kelly's wedding shower, and I was left here to snack, sleep and watch TV. I've used up all my willpower for today.