7 Miles in Heaven

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?