First Week of School and 15 Miles

I can't believe I haven't posted about the first week of school yet! I've been busy getting back into the routine, going to bed early and running. 7 miles is now my medium run for the week, so it's def. takes up more time, and I digress. Neways, it's been really nice to be back at school. At the open house the week before school one of my students who I had last year came into the classroom, and he could walk! He could barely stand on his own at the end of the school year in June. Now he is walking, I've so enjoyed watching him this past week. I honestly have to say I do miss my students who have gone into other programs, but that's apart of teaching, students move on and it's for the best. On the other hand I'm working with the same people, same classroom, a lot of similar things from last year and it's been nice to come back and already know what to do and when.

On a totally different note this morning I ran 15 miles!! 15 with hills, and I mean big steep hills! It was such a lovely run with some beautiful views of the James River. I must say the first 10 were pretty easy. I can't believe I am saying this, but it's true. Miles 10-13 were hard, but not too bad. Miles 13-15 were brutal. I remember running with a teammate and we were saying we weren't sure if we would be able to walk afterwards. But I am shocked to say I feel fine now. I stretched a lot after, ate a good recovery meal and of course did an ice bath. Ah, I have a love hate relationship with the ice bath. They are def. not fun during, but afterwards it's amazing how great you feel. It's like night and day after an ice bath. I actually feel better now than I did after the half marathon. It's great to see that my training is really working. My head coach shared this quote in a team email recently and I loved it "As is true with life and in the run- if you are willing to pay the price that others will not you will reap the benefits that others will not" It just confirms that my training is paying off, and it feels so good. This morning a coach said "I know you think you have been running long distances, but you haven't until after this run. This morning starts the real distance running." So, I am officially apart of the elite group of distance runners now! Ah, I can't describe how great it feels. I was talking to a coach as we were running across the Nickel Bridge, I was telling him how training for this marathon has gotten me addicted to running. I am in, there's no turning back for me now. Some people run the marathon to cross it off their "bucket list", which is fine, but I'm hooked for life now. I just love it. :)