17 Miles and A New Hydration Pack

Did you know that there is nothing on tv at 5 am? It's all infomercials. I was up early this morning to get my long run in before it got too hot out and had very limited tv options.

I started watching The Walking Dead until I realized that watching zombies before I went for a run outside in the mostly dark was probably not the best life choice. I found some I Love Lucy episodes to watch while I drank my coffee instead. It was super dark out, and I didn't want to start out in the total darkness. I had to look up when sunrise was going to be, and the sky had lightened up a bit by the time I was out the door.

I know I say this after every long run, but 17 miles is far you guys! I took my new hydration pack (it's a TETON Sports Trailrunner 2.0) for a spin, and I like it way better than my fuel belt that I have been running with. It's easier to take sips of water, and I don't feel the weight of the water as much as I do with the belt. The best part is that it was less than $24 from Amazon (depending on color choice).

I've given up on worrying about the pace of my long runs. I can't seem to find anywhere near the house that isn't insanely hilly. This week was even worse than last week - over 1700 feet of elevation. I can't help but walk on some of the steeper sections - it's usually faster to walk than to try to run up them, and walking is not good for my long run morale. I like to be able to keep my legs moving.

Every once in a while I get caught up in all the blogs and social media and start to feel like it's no big thing to wake up at 5am to run 17 miles. Doesn't everyone do that, and don't they do it faster than me?

No, they don't. And even if I'm not the fastest (I'm not), it's still a really cool and very hard thing I'm doing, no matter how run of the mill social media makes it seem.

I ran 17 miles today, and that's the most I've ever run at one time - how cool is that? :)


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