16 miles of awesomeness.

so this past saturday, i completed my longest run since last years' nyc marathon: 16 miles.  i was a little nervous, not gonna lie.  yes, i know i've ran 16 miles before.  and yes, i knew i'd be able to do it.  my real worry was that i was going to set out to run 16 miles, feel like crap and want to quit earlier.

i mean, there hasn't been a reason for me to run anything more than 13.1 miles over the past 10 months.  the training schedule i created had me jumping from a long run of 13 miles to a long run of 16 miles in one week.  yes, this is possible.  yes, there is a reason i did this.  and yes, this was probably not a good idea for me mentally.  i think i would have been a little less anxious had i completed a run of 14-15 miles before going out to run 16 all at once.

before going to bed on friday night, i looked back at my post from the nyc marathon to see what i was thinking and how i was feeling for the first 16 miles.  below, i've made a few comments on that post.  if you'd like, you can read the entire post here.

i felt better once i saw that i was still feeling good (and better than the chilean miner) by mile 16 last november.  i was definitely less anxious about my "jump" from 13 to 16.

but whatever, it all worked out because i felt GREAT during the run and actually had a negative split! that's right people, a NEGATIVE SPLIT TIME!  for those of you who are unfamiliar with this term, it means that i ran the last 8 miles faster than i ran the first 8 miles.  this, my friends, is a really, really big deal.  especially for me.

not to brag or anything (okay, totally to brag), but my last 3 miles were actually my fastest miles.  now, maybe i ran those last 3 miles faster because by that time meghan had already left to go home and all i wanted to do was be done - but who cares!  the point is, people, that i finished stronger than i started.

needless to say, i felt totally good about myself.  also, i finally used my crockpot (my easter present) and made the boy and myself some awesome pulled pork sliders.  it was so easy because i prepped everything on friday night and then saturday before i left, i just turned the crockpot on.  by 4pm, everything was done and smelling glorious.  i also made some homemade french fries that turned out to be, quite possibly, the best things i've ever made.  seriously, unbelievable. SUCH a good post-run meal.  might have to find another crockpot recipe to make for after this saturday's 18-miler!

okay, so maybe food photography isn't in my future - but oh man was this scrumptious.

stay tuned - training is picking up and that means lots of running and lots of food!  it's the most wonderful time of the year (i hope you just sang that, either out loud or in your head, because i did.)