District Nine

Pre-workout fuel: Slice of whole-wheat toast with Peanut Butter & Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams and half-caff coffee
Mid-workout fuel: Mandarin Orange Gu
Workout: Ran 9.01 miles in 1 hour, 21 minutes and 45 seconds; average pace, 9:04.

I had this bright idea last night: I thought Mark should try to pick me up. I was feeling good after receiving myriad compliments on my appearance at the wedding, and I wanted to see if Mark could lift up the new me. He put his arms around my waist, lifted and soon my feet were off the floor.

"Boom!"

I moved my leg and the area just above my left knee smacked the underside of the kitchen counter. Let me tell you, it hurt like a mother. And it still hurt this morning when I woke up and got ready to do this week's long run of 9 miles. Now let me make this clear, the hurt wasn't a muscle hurt. It was a "Dang, I'm stupid" hurt. Regardless, I was hoping to blame what was sure to be a poor outing on my bruised leg.

Mark and I set out just after 7:30 a.m., and I think we would have been fine quitting at 7:40. The jam-packed weekend had taken its toll on our bodies. We both complained of fatigue and muscle pain as we plodded along the Greenway. It seemed like I had to work 10 times harder to move. Period.

I was thankful to be distracted about 4 miles in by the shirtless running brigade, the band of super-fast guys who work at the running company. After I offered Mark the chance to ditch me for them (he declined), I took my Gu and hoped for the best. Another mile or so later, we stopped to refill the water bottle and stretch. It was harder to move after that break but I did my best to push through and silence the mental bargaining.

We had one more short rest - about mile 7 - when I had to stop to adjust some garments. It seems I can no longer where certain items in a size large without them drooping. Funny as it is, there was a guy running by himself - FuelBelt and all - who asked if we were all right. "Sure thing, sir. Just pullin' up the briefs." Ha! I have to give this guy props, though. He was running at a surprisingly good clip and told us "Good job" as we passed him. I like nice runners.

Oh, and I like coming home, hooking up the Garmin and realizing that what felt so bad turned out to be so good. I did 9 miles with each mile faster than the one before; averaged a pace faster than goal for Fort-4-Fitness; and ran 5 miles at or below goal pace. I don't want to put the cart before the horse but let's just say I'm pleased.

How did your long run go this weekend?