Saturday morning I did my long run of the week. Keeping my less than stellar run in the back of my mind, I stayed positive and set my sights on my goal: 13 miles. I had a lot working in my favor that morning before I even rolled out of bed:

• near perfect weather conditions (especially for August!)
• moral support (since it was an NYRR-organized run, there would be tons of other runners and support staff along the way)
• built-in fuel stations

And I have to be completely honest, I laid in bed at around 5:30 seriously considering blowing it off. My rationale? I could just run a ton of loops in the park (like I did instead of the last NYRR trainer) across the street. And sleep in more.

Eventually, my conscience won the battle and I got up and got dressed.

I kept it simple with my morning fuel and had a Carrot-Chia-Spelt muffin I made a few days ago from Oh She Glows (umm, delicious, and great pre-run fuel, btw), a cup of Japanese Sencha tea, and some water. I got my gear and headed out to the subway.

I should mention here that by “gear” I generally mean my shoes. I hate carrying/holding/transporting pretty much anything when I run. No iPods, no water bottles, nothin but a plain old watch. All I had today (but necessity only, I assure you) was a single key to get back in my building and my metrocard. Both fit nicely into the little back pocket of my spandex. My race bib was already attached to my shirt. This aversion to carrying things also explains why I almost always try to schedule long runs on long race weekends…

Once I got there, the run was pretty standard. Nothing to noteworthy to mention (which, I suppose is good and bad). I ran the 13 I set out to do and moved between pacer groups (9:30 and 10:00) as I saw fit.There were a few times when I could feel one of my knees… or my ankle. It didn’t hurt at all, but my theory is that you should never feel the presence of a single joint. They were talking a bit, so I iced them down afterwards to be careful. I also discovered a nasty bloody toe situation after I got home. One rubbed against the other and the dried blood stuck them together in a single red mega-toe. Nothing painful, though.

So? It’s done. Next week I’ll shoot for 15 alone, and step-back the week after. I’m doing quite a bit of cross-training in the next few weeks, and I’m looking forward to seeing how that makes me feel in the next few long runs.

Countdown to the marathon? T-minus 68 days and counting…

How are your long runs going? If you aren’t running a marathon, would you ever want to? Why/why not?