Nikki Vs. The 12-Mile Monster

Nikki: 1 ; 12-Miles: 0

Thats right, bitches.

Kevin, Knapp, Sean and I tackled the 12-mile run yesterday, something I was feeling not so confident about all week. I mean, sure, I've done 10 miles twice before, but I was having doubts that I could do 12 miles without stopping. Fortunately, the run went very well for me, and I didn't stop. Not once! Big accomplishment for me.

The weather was near-perfect. 64 degrees out, with some winds, but the gusts weren't big enough to become annoying during the run. I was able to stick with the guys' "warm-up" run for about half a mile, until I realized they were running their warm-up at a 10 minute mile pace...which for me is not a warm up at all, but a full fledged run, haha. Sean and I decided to slow it up a bit, deciding we didn't want to get burnt out before the 12 miles were up.

My legs weren't feeling so great for the first two miles, I had a constant burn in my shins and calves, so I decided to keep about a 12 minute pace for a while, while sean picked up the pace and ran with knapp for most of the run. I kept them in my sights, but figured it would be better for me to keep steady and slow so I could finish the run without stopping.

After 2 miles my legs finally warmed up and I was feeling great. I hit three miles and thought about how I was already a quarter of the way done and how happy I'd be to hit this area again when there would only be a quarter of the way left!

I saw Kevin at exactly an hour into the run. He was already heading back and I was about half to 3/4s of a mile away from mile 6, the turn around point. I was passing this soccer field area after a big hill. To the right was a beautiful river surrounded by tons of trees. I was really a beautiful sight, seeing all the trees with their leaves changing color. I love the fall, I really do. I guess, if I have had any experience of having a "runners high" this would be it. I hit 6 miles and was still feeling really fresh...and super happy. Like, I was really enjoying running. Without realizing it, I was also picking up my pace. A lot! I would say I ran at a 10-minute-mile and or faster for the rest of the run.

I was still feeling great at 9 miles, and thought I might have been gaining ground on Sean and Knapp, but thats when I saw Knapp fly off into the distance and disappear. I passed Sean with about 2.5 miles to go, still picking up the pace. I was great until about mile 10 when my knees started to feel weird, some subtle pain and discomfort creeping in. At mile 10.5, my knees were hurting more, but it was only a slight annoyance to me, so I decided to keep pushing.

The start of mile 11 was hard for me, I wanted to push harder, but my legs were tiring out. I remember at this one little hill, after I had crossed the road, I was trying to push up this tiny little hill and it was killing me! I was like 'oh come onnnnn!', but I finally made it up and kept pushing.

I saw kevin walking towards me and passed him with a little more than a half mile to go. I was at 2:04:20, when I passed, and was really pleased with the time so far. When I hit the end, I ended up with 2:09:21, with an overall 10:47 pace. AWESOME!!! I threw my hands up in the air when I finished, enjoying my victory of running 12 miles. My legs felt like jello, but I felt so good!

With this time, I am setting my goal for anything sub 2:30 for the half. I think thats pretty achievable for me at this point in my training. Not setting the bar too high, but setting a goal none-the-less.