Pre-flight workout

I went on a trip this past weekend out to Missouri for my friend's bachelorette party, and I knew that I'd have to get my 19-mile run in before I left (particularly because I knew we'd be visiting some wineries and running wouldn't exactly be a priority!). I've loosened up about missing runs since I first started training for races (and I actually missed a 5-mile run last week), but it's really not very smart to miss long runs like those (of course, I missed two full weeks of training while I was overseas, so...). This close to the race, I just didn't want to miss an important long run. 

I thought about splitting the run on Thursday (8 miles in the morning, 11 at night, or something...), or running it on Sunday in St. Louis (where I'd be spending about six hours with my friend after another friend's bachelorette party), but neither of those sounded like too much fun. Finally, I decided to run it before my noon flight on Friday. I knew it'd be tough and I'd have to get up at the crack of dawn, but I knew it'd be worth it to do it and get it over with.

Turns out I was right! I left just after 6am, and since the sun hadn't risen yet and I wasn't 100% sure of where I was going, I decided to start my run sans iPod.

View uptown from the East River

Hey hey Lady Liberty! It was windy...check out those choppy waters!

It was so quiet along the river, and there were so few people out. Even the West Side Highway, which is usually swarming with people on my weekend runs, had just a handful of people out walking their dogs at that hour. The city was serene and quiet (except for that one time at mile 13 when I literally yelled out "ONE MORE HOUR!!! YOU CAN DO IT!"). It was unlike anything I'd seen or experienced before in this crazy town, so I kept running without music...for 15 miles. 

And until I reached this:

THE 72ND STREET STAIRS. These are TOUGH. I've fallen at the top, and they're really not fun to tackle after running 15 miles. I knew I needed a little something to pump me up for this, so I switched on a little TSwift, Rihanna and Girl Talk to motivate me through the last four miles.

As you can see, it was a neat little tour of Manhattan:

Maybe I should start to give running tours of NYC?

Splits:

• Mile 1: 10:24
• Mile 2: 9:31
• Mile 3: 9:34
• Mile 4: 9:44
• Mile 5: 10:01
• Mile 6: 9:30
• Mile 7: 9:32
• Mile 8: 9:41 (Powerade gel)
• Mile 9: 9:44
• Mile 10: 9:43
• Mile 11: 9:32
• Mile 12: 9:43
• Mile 13: 9:39
• Mile 14: 10:08
• Mile 15: 9:39 (Gu)
• Mile 16: 9:32
• Mile 17: 9:48
• Mile 18: 9:16
• Mile 19: 10:02 (I swear I was running faster than this!)

Total time:

3:04:55, with an average pace of 9:44! Woo hoo!

It was a great run, and one I was proud to finish. I even made my flight on time! (And lucky for me, a girl who was at the bachelorette party is training to be a power yoga instructor and she led me in THE BEST yoga session I'd had in quite some time. It was amazing. I definitely need more yoga in my life.)

Typically I run indoors during the week and run outside for the long runs, but this run made me excited to run more outside, especially once the weather improves! This weekend I have 12 miles, and the following weekend is 20...my farthest distance before the marathon on May 1. I know I can do it!!!