Nothing Nine

This weekend's long run was nine miles long. I wish I had a really good lesson or interesting story to report. But I've got nothing. So bear with me during this useless nine mile summary. 

I was WAY overdressed. 

It was 68 degrees when I stepped out of the car to start my run. Now, I know 68 degrees is plenty warm enough for a run, but the wind had a little nip to it and I was just way too comfortable in my jacket (and I'm a Texan, so 68 degrees is a little chilly to me). I've been a runner long enough to know better.  Even as I took off I was telling myself I would regret it. And, I was right.  I regretted it like crazy and ended up running most of the miles with a jacket tied around my waist.

I've started doing this new thing with my Garmin and I think it's really helping me on my runs. Instead of keeping it on the main/first screen where I can watch my current pace, I've started leaving the Garmin on the screen that just displays my average pace. I can't explain exactly why, but this small change has helped me with negative splits and more effective pacing SOOOO much.  I think that maybe before I was just constantly trying to keep my goal pace up the entire run. Only watching my average pace is helping me figure out how to take it easy (using that word loosely- running is never easy) in the beginning so that I can close really fast (again, using that word loosely).  I'm definitely going to employ this Garmin strategy during my next half marathon in three weeks (3 weeks?!?!). 

Even though the run was uneventful and not really blog-worthy (sorry), it was still pretty awesome. Apparently, I quickly forget how much I like long runs. Yes, they are hard. And yes, sometimes finding the time to squeeze one in is inconvenient. And yes, I envy the hell out of The Hubs as he stays snuggled up in bed while I treck out early on a Saturday. But, there is nothing like the feeling of finishing a long run. The feeling of accomplishment mixed with exhaustion is something I haven't been able to duplicate anywhere else but in the long run. 

Oh, and did I mention the feeling of hunger?  Luckily, I'm married to the world's greatest man and he had this waiting for me as soon as I walked in the door.