9 Mile LSD Run, Yowza!

A couple of nights ago, I headed out well after dinner (around 830 pm) for what I thought was just going to be an easy 3 or 4 mile run. At about 1/2 mile into the run, I started to have a sugar crash and thought I should head for home. But, that quickly passed, and after that, I felt really good. It was dark, but I had a blinking red light on my jacket, and it was in the lower 50s. The miles quickly ticked off as I ran through my local neighborhoods. I reached 4 miles, and felt good enough to do 5. Five turned into six, and six turned into seven. When I hit seven, I thought I could surely hit 8 miles since I ran that far last week for my LSD run. When I hit 8, I really wanted to push myself to get 9 in this week. While the last couple of miles were hard, I indeed clicked off 9 miles on my run, and staggered home. My heart and lungs still felt strong, but my legs were pretty much done, and not sure they could have given any more. So, yesterday, I rested. Wow, it was a hard run, but now I just need to turn 9 into 10, and 10 into 13.1. The Lincoln Half Marathon is now just 6 weeks from today. Yikes, I can't believe that, in fact, it makes me a little more than nervous. But, I know I certainly put in my the required training, and should be more then well prepared for the run in a few weeks. Now, I just have to make sure I don't injure myself, and indeed, I should be wearing a medal around my neck, proudly I might add. Not everyone can run a half marathon, and I hope to prove to myself that I can do it.

Regarding gear, I have purchased a few toys to help out. I did purchase a SPIbelt, which is an elastic belt with a small pouch to put small, personal items (SPI). It works great, and is just big enough to hold my cell phone and car keys, and a couple packs of energy gel if necessary. Great running accessory. I also purchased the blinking, red light that I mentioned, so I'm more visible at nighttime. With the weather turning nicer, I've definitely been out running more on trails and on the streets in the neighborhoods, so I want to make sure I'm seen by traffic.

In case I'm not seen by traffic, or some vengeful person tries to run me down, I also wear a Road ID necklace. It's essentially a dog tag with all of my pertinent ICE (in case of emergency) info, should I be rendered unconscious. It's assurance that I'll be identified if something happens to me while running.

My health has also moved into the "remarkably healthy" (words of my doctor) category due to my running. My resting heart rate is about 55 to 59 beats per minute on average, although I did measure it at 49 bpm one night a couple of weeks ago. I just tested my blood pressure this evening also, it was 98 over 58. That seems a tad low, based on my physical exam from earlier this week, which was 120 over 70. My cholesterol was 152, my triglycerides 50 (should be less than 149) , my HDL was 57 (should be 40-60), and my LDL was 87 (should be less than 90). So, all in all, I'm doing great. My weight has stabilized around 156, so only just a couple of pounds below my pre-run weight.