7, or wtf was I thinking

Yesterday was the seven mile long run. This was longer than I have ever run before at one time.

I went to my dad's as he agreed to run with me. He lives out in the country and had mapped out a 3.5 mile distance from the house which we would run out and back. I drove the route on my way and thought, this really doesn't look so bad.

Heh.

There are no flat roads, in real life.

The first 3.75 felt so easy, I began to feel like a real distance runner and thought, wow, all this training must have been working. Then, I realized why the first half had felt so easy. The road back was a consistent upward slope. We'd been running slightly downhill for most of the way out, except for a hill or two. This is not good planning.

At about mile 5, I developed a stitch in my right side, which never resolved until the run was over. At about mile 5.5, I began to wonder what in the hell I was thinking, how was running fun in any way? At mile 6.5, I wondered if my legs would just give out, and whether any of my dad's country neighbors would stop if we were laying in heaps on the side of the road.

The whole thing took 80 minutes, or just under 11:30 minute miles. I didn't time each mile. This is not too shabby, considering how uphill the ending 4 miles were.

However, it did put the fear into me. All the long runs from here on out (8, 9, and 10 miles) will be farther than I've ever gone. The course includes a wretched hill at about mile 11 (near my house, I've run it before...mostly. It sucks).

Today I feel a bit sore in the legs, but not awful. Might do a very short run to loosen muscles as tomorrow will suck more. Also, better plan for eight miles on Saturday. I'll have to map out a doable course.