$0.27cents or 10 miles

Today marks my first 10 mile run!  I made it, although, there were times I thought, gosh!  I'm tired!  I want to walk!  Proud to say that I didn't!  This is now my longest run to date so far.  15 days left until the half!  Yikes!

Today's title?  I saw $0.27cents on today's run.  Now normally, as broke as I am, I would have picked up the 2 pennies and 1 quarter that I saw during my run.  But today was different.  I wanted to run 10 miles without stopping (unless it pertained to refueling, of course).  Well, I wish I had a Garmin, as I am only calculating my run mileage from yahoo.maps, my husband's drive time on the odometer and my pace time.  I'm pretty certain we are as accurate as we can be given the options.  I made it in 1:46:30.

10 miles!  Wow!  In my head that sounds like a lot.  On my feet it felt like a lot MORE!  But now that I'm done, I think...okay, so that's what 10 miles feels like.  Today, I was able to try a few things different than how I normally run.  Today was the first time I've used refueling as part of my run.  Now, normally I run without issue of "hitting the wall".  I don't stop and drink water.  I don't use gels or goos or any other things for electrolytes.  I don't stop to pee.  But now that my miles are bumping up, I knew this day was going to come.  I purchased the "sports beans" and tested them out on today's run. 

The beans look just like jelly beans, and they taste similar, too.  I stuck the beans in my shorts (as there is an inner pocket for such things).  At about 6.5 miles I pulled out the beans and ate.  Tasted good and didn't seem to mind the chewing too much on my run.  I realized that next time I should keep the beans in the pouch it came in, since the ones I put in my pocket were stuck together from my own sweat!  Ick!  Didn't care, though, as I needed the boost. 

It's funny that my "ick factor" has changed over the years.  I chalk this up to my own goal-setting (sweat and miles) and childbirth!  It's amazing what women's bodies can endure.  I feel like sometimes I can do anything being the fact that I have had 2 children.  I even tell myself this on some of my runs when I'm struggling in pain...thinking "if I can endure the pain I had with my daughter during labor, I can suck up this hill and get through it"!  Hilarious!  I also lowered my "ick factor" by being a mom - ie. dealing with poop diapers, vomit, getting peed on and many other things I won't list here!  Lol!

I also refueled by drinking water at 7 miles.  I returned near my home and drank.  I had stuck a water bottle in the neck of a tree next to our place so that I wouldn't have to go officially in my home to drink up.  I knew that if I stopped home, there was the potential to just stop completely.  So, once I rounded our house, my hubby and daughter were outside waiting to cheer me on!  How nice!!!  The hubs had found my water bottle and had it ready to drink from with the top off.  He said "good job" and reminded me that I only have 3 more miles to go (almost done!).  That was a nice and pleasant surprise. 

The last few miles were hard.  I must say that I did have an instant boost from the beans and water from 7-8 miles, but after 8, I was TIRED!  My legs were like lead and my body just wanted to stop.  The majority of today's run was also hard, as my tummy felt quite jostled.  I held off on a few side-aches, and I was able to breathe through them.  All in all, I was happy.  I cannot believe I ran 10 miles today.  During the run, I thought...how the hell do people run a full marathon!?  26.2 is A LOT!!!  10 felt like a lot!  Well, time will only tell how 13.1 miles will be like.  15 days to go!