Strong start, poor finish

I have been anticipating this long run for a while now. Was supposed to get it done this past weekend, but with Christmas festivities it didn't happen. Tripp said he would wait to go start his tile side job so I could get in 8 miles this morning.

Around midnight I woke up with stomach cramps and wasn't sure I was going to be able to go on my run in the morning. But after a trip to the bathroom (sorry, TMI!) I felt much better and went back to bed. Then Emily came in our room at 3:30am with a stuffy nose a sore throat. When the alarm went off at 7am I felt like I could've easily talked myself out of the run. But I didn't. I decided not to take the dog (she was still sleeping anyway!). I choked down my half cup of Chobani (shame on me for not properly fueling myself) and headed out.

I was freezing for the first couple of miles, even in long pants and long sleeve shirt. I was wishing I had something for my ears, they felt frostbitten! But I was feeling strong and plugging along at about a 10:15 pace. I was hardly looking at my Garmin.

But when I did look at it and it said 3.22 miles, I was a little disappointed and had to get back in the mental zone! I pushed for the next mile (it helped having Toby Mac singing "Turn on the Ignition" to me!). I allowed myself to walk for about a minute then continued on until my gravel path ended. Then I stopped to get the gravel out of my shoes and continued on.

I was still feeling strong at mile 5 but getting hungry (again, shame on me!) and it didn't help that I was running right by an Einstein Brothers Bagel shop and a Starbuck's!

A little into mile 6 my hunger got the better or me and I had to stop and walk again. Kept pushing through for the next mile and around 7 and a quarter miles I was back in my neighborhood. I was getting more and more tired and more and more hungry and my stomach cramps from the middle of the night felt like they were returning. I passed by our old neighbors' new house and decided I would stop by and ask if they could drive me home. With my tail between my legs I rang the doorbell (it was about 9am) but no one was home. Near tears, I continued on my way, half walking half jogging.

I got to the school by our house and instead of snaking my way through the neighborhood to get home, I cut through the school yard. As I got to the fence across from our driveway, my stomach was not doing well. I hopped the fence and was so thankful to be home. 7.78 miles completed.

Here is what my miles looked like:

10:11

10:19

10:15

10:05

10:35

9:47

10:59

11:58