I knew all week that I needed to run 12 miles on Saturday. I was planning for it. I scheduled my Friday evening so I could get plenty of sleep. And that would have worked if not for a phone call from my dear sister. Sometimes family really must come first. So, I didn’t get home or in bed as early as I had hoped. Such is life.

I set my alarm as if I was going to get up early enough to run the 12 miles before I had to go to mentoring. But then, when my alarm (or maybe alarms) went off, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I kept watching the time tick on…not sleeping, but not waking, just thinking about how I should be getting up.

But I didn’t get up until I had to for mentoring. I laid in bed until almost 11 am. I never do that, but I just couldn’t get up. I was so tired. It had been a long week. And yet, I knew I was going to have to go running. So, I mentally prepared for it.

On my way to mentoring, I grabbed a banana and a bagel so I would have plenty of time to digest it before running. I knew I’d have to get out the door almost as soon as I got home, so I had to eat.

And now, a digression: it’s an interesting thing to eat when you view food as fuel rather than something to be enjoyed. Not that I didn’t enjoy the banana and bagel. I did. But I also knew that I had to eat these two things; the potassium in the banana and the carbs in the bagel would be exactly what my body needed to make it the 12 miles I was going to push it. Eating felt good. Not like something I shouldn’t be doing. Which is how I often feel when I’m eating. Even if I’m making good choices. But eating to feed my body so it can do the things I want it to do changes how I feel about food. I wish I could always eat that way. But such is not the way my body (or my emotions) work…

Back to the running. I left mentoring about 15 minutes early because I knew I wanted to run my 12 miles in Central Park and I did not want to be running after dark. There was a very small window of opportunity to make that happen.

It was a lovely day and I actually wore shorts and a short sleeve shirt. It was a little cold to start, but I warmed right up. Given my knee and how it’s been feeling, I made sure to actually stretch once I warmed up. And then I was off.

For the entire first loop (six miles) I was having debates in my head about whether I really needed to run all 12 miles. Wouldn’t nine be enough? But as I approached the end of the first loop, I knew the answer. No. Nine would not be enough. Running is 90% mental. In order to finish the 13.1 miles I will be running in two weeks, I knew I needed to know I could do 12. And so, I turned around and reversed the loop. (I couldn’t stand the thought of repeat exactly what I had just done.) The first half I pushed myself. The second half, my only goal was to keep going. And yet, somehow, I managed to do the two loops in almost the exact same amount of time.

The bad news is that my time was a bit slower than I was hoping. The good news is that the race course I will be running in two weeks is much less hilly. In fact, most of it is downhill. So, I’m thinking in the next week or so, I will put in a good push with some serious training runs, focusing on speed work, and then I will enjoy a relaxing couple of days in Vegas pre-race, and if all goes well, I should be able to cut 10 minutes off my time from last year. Here’s hoping.

Let’s talk about how much I didn’t want to run this morning. And how much I didn’t want to get out of bed early enough to get my run in before mentoring. And how many times I didn’t run this week when I should have.

I should have been out the door of my apartment by 8 am. I got out of my door at 9 am. First, I couldn’t make myself get out of bed. My head hurt. My stomach was a little queasy. My knee still isn’t feeling great. Every excuse…and those excuses were almost enough. Almost.

When I finally did get out the door, I knew it was going to be rough. I was not going to have time to do any walking. And nine miles with no walking when my longest run this round of training was a six miler three weeks ago was not going to be easy. Or fun.

I warmed up on my way to Central Park. My plan was to do two laps around the Reservoir and then the six mile loop. I headed up to the Reservoir which took a little bit of time because the way up was super icy only to discover that the trail around it was basically a skating rink. Not sure why I thought it might not be, but 10 minutes into my run, I had yet to actually do any running. The minutes were ticking away. New plan: the six mile Central Park Loop and then I’d figure it out. I had six miles to think about it. Plenty of time.

The first three miles of the run were great. I was pacing a little faster than I had anticipated. Nothing was hurting. It wasn’t too cold. And then, when I hit mile four and had yet to see a street vendor with water, I started to worry a little. I hadn’t brought any water with me, just money, because there are always street vendors and that way I don’t have to carry it. But, just as I was thinking I would have to take a little detour to find a bodega, I saw a vendor on the horizon. I took a quick break to buy water and then allowed myself a little walking time to drink some and down two Shot Blocks. And then, I was off again.

The rest of the loop went off without a hitch. I mean, there were a couple of hills that made me want to scream and, at one point, I thought I was going to puke (too much water too fast), but then everything balanced out and I was fine. I decided I would just do the last three miles on CPW, so when I finished the loop, I headed south again. I was amazed to discover that I was still pacing at my goal pace. Mile seven was quick. Mile eight my feet were starting to hurt, so I allowed myself to walk a quarter of it. And then, I was back running for the last mile.

I cooled down on my way home. Because of my late start, I was only going to have 30 minutes to shower and get out the door–no time to eat, which is never a good idea after running that distance–so I grabbed a chocolate milk on my way home and chugged it. Some of you might think that’s weird (I did too the first time it was given out at the end of a race), but it really is a perfect recovery drink; carbs, protein, a little fat…exactly what I needed.

I got home and discovered the pain in my feet was a result of a couple of blisters. With no time to deal with those, I was grateful for my oh-so-comfy Uggs to throw on. I rushed out the door to get to mentoring, only to discover that my trains weren’t running…so I ended up being an hour late anyway. It’s a good thing I didn’t know that my trains weren’t going to be running, or I probably wouldn’t have gone running, but I’m so glad I did.

I’ve said it before, and I’m sure I’ll say it again. There is nothing like running that helps me forget all my stupid drama, all of body issues, and just appreciate how great my life is. And I just don’t think that starting my Saturday mornings with a run through Central Park will ever get old. Seriously. What a fun life I have!

Today’s top songs:

• Dancing in Heaven – Q-Feel
• Stereo Love – Edward Maya & Vika Jigulina
• Alors on danse – Stromae
• Teenage Dream – Glee Cast
• Feel It In My Bones (feat. Tegan and Sara) – Tiesto
• Not Broken – Goo Goo Dolls
• Sick – The Lovemakers
• Mercy – Duffy
• Superstar (feat. Matthew Santos) – Lupe Fiasco
• S&M – Rihanna (p.s. in case you didn’t get it from the title, this song is super trashy)
• I Like It (feat. Pitbull) – Enrique Iglesia
• Lollipop (Candyman) – Aqua

My knee is still not 100%, but it’s been a lot better. While I still have some sniffles, my cold has generally subsided. And with a half marathon a little less than six weeks away, I just couldn’t give myself any more time off running. I decided on Saturday that I would start again today and I was actually really excited about the prospect.