The best thing about today’s

The best thing about today’s 12.25-mile run is that it’s over.
It was not a good run for me. I don’t know whether I was tired (probably), not hydrated enough (maybe), or had just psyched myself out (likely) but I just felt dead. It was also a different time of day — I’ve always preferred running in the late afternoon but today I headed out at 10:30 a.m. so that Mom and I could shop after lunch.
I ran this 6-mile route twice, stopping for 3 minutes at my house between loops to use the bathroom and sip some Gatorade. Actually, it was 6.13 miles, so two loops was 12.25 miles.
Loop 1 – 6.13 miles, 1:07:36, 11:02/mile
Break – 3:00
Loop 2 – 6.13 miles, 1:10:01, 11:25/mile
So my total time (excluding the break) was 2:17:37, or 11:14/mile. It was not as strong a run as I’d been hoping for, but coming in at an 11:14/mile average is a minor miracle when I consider how sluggish and generally lethargic I felt. I mean, I felt dead. By the last mile, I was walking 30 seconds for every 2-3 minutes of shuffling.
I have to say, I felt “off” from the start. I just never got into a groove, and my legs felt very heavy. Even slight inclines were doing a number of me, and I considered bailing when I got back to the house after the first loop. “I could try again tomorrow,” I thought. But I really wanted to knock this thing out, and so I started out again. The second loop was worse, and I’m actually surprised that I finished as close to the first loop time as I did. As I’ve always said — I am horrible at judging my pace! I guess I must have been running at a pretty good clip during the times I was running — because there were definitely a lot of walking breaks on the second loop.
But I’m glad I got my 12 miles out of the way. It would be tough to feel worse than I did today on January 15 during the Half, so I can take comfort in the knowledge that even if the 15th is a repeat of today, I’ll still come in under 2:30:00.