I did it!! I reached my August goal of 90 miles tonight during my run. I was at 83.4 and I said to myself if you are going to reach your goal, why not reach it in a big way. Go 7 miles and I did.
I knew to make it the full 7, I would have to go slow. To help me go slow, I listened to talk radio rather than music. It worked. I started slower than usual and made it to the 2.5 mile mark feeling great. This is my turn around point for when I run 5 miles. I decided to go for it.
To make it 7 miles, it would mean to the dead end at the end of the street and back. To reach the dead end, it is 1 mile straight downhill followed by 1 mile straight uphill. I made it back up the hill. At this point I can either go up and over the bridge and return home for a 6 mile run or go back through the tunnel for a 7 mile run. I went for the 7.
I thought at one point I thought I was in trouble when I started to feel a twinge in my knee. I almost stopped to stretch it out, but it went away as quickly at it came. When I reached the 6 mile mark, I knew I was home free. I started to smile and amazingly enough I got a second wind. I had to control myself from going too fast. Once I got to the top of the last hill and made the turn to go down the last quarter of a mile I felt like a champion. I finished strong and I almost raised my hands imagining I was crossing a finish line.
I have a choice now, I can take off the next 3 days and call it a positive month or I can decide to go for the magic number of 100. To do this, I would have to run 5 miles on Wednesday and 5 miles on Friday as on Thursday, I am unable to go running.
Stay Tuned.
Were you ever closing in on a milestone and decided to reach it in a big way?