The Ingredients for Runner's High

It had been a while since I'd had a really strong run.  Last Thursday I was finally feeling healthy and decided to head outdoors for a 10-mile jaunt.  The first 3.5 miles were uphill.  It didn't matter.  I was still enjoying myself.

Then I got to turn around.

For the first 3.5 miles, I had hills for lunch.  Going down them was dessert.  I reached a point about four miles in where I was enjoying myself--perhaps 'enjoying' isn't the right word--and could only smile.  The only time I'd ever smiled uncontrollably while running was the time a sixty-year-old passed me and immediately tripped with a little help from my left foot.  I'm just kidding (it was my right foot).  Anyhow, smiling uncontrollably and running ten miles aren't usually synonymous.  But they were.  This state of bliss lasted for about 2.5 miles when I made the mistake of looking at my watch and realized I still had four miles to go.

Those four miles happened to be the fastest four miles of my life.  Go figure.

Recipe for Runner's High (I'm not an expert by the way)

• Don't get run over by a car.
• Run downhill.
• Wear underwear to prevent chafing.

Putting things in perspective

• I ran 10 miles in 83:24, an 8:22 pace.
• That's a faster pace than I was running 5-ks a year ago.
• I ran the last mile in 7:45 on a flat surface, the fastest of the 10 miles, which tells me there was plenty left in the tank.
• The slowest mile was 9:20 going uphill, which tells me I'm slower going uphill than downhill.  Who would have guessed?
• I'm still more than a minute/mile slower than my Boston qualifying pace.
• I've made a lot of progress but there's a lot more work to do.

Go me!

*****

Other notes: I'm getting faster.  I ran five miles this morning faster than I'd ever run five miles.  My mind needs to accept that I can run even faster before it happens.  I'm excited for the marathon and excited about my training.  I'm excited my wife is hot.