I Accidentally Ran 12.65 Saturday

It was "long run" day Saturday. My busy travel week had afforded only one, 5-mile workout on Tuesday, which meant I had a small conundrum on my hands. The mish-mash of training plans I'm loosely following didn't line up with the week I'd had, nor the time I had left before the race.

So my plan was to run long, but not too long, as long as everything felt good. If anything didn't feel good, I was just going to stop and walk. Max: 11.5.

I set off and everything felt pretty good for the most part. Miles 5, 6 and 7 came pretty easy. At the 8 mark, I was just about home and had what I thought was a 3.5 mile loop to go if I chose. So I ran past the house and continued on.

I walked up two short hills, for a total of about .25 miles ... mostly because I let my head talk me into it. Physically, I was feeling all right. I gave my head a few problems to work through to make the time go faster: Can I carry enough water or do I need to use the water stations on the course? (Will need a couple water station stops.) How many of the gummy energy candy things should I use and when should I take them? (Two at mile 4, two at mile 8.) Where is my life going and how will I know if all of this is right? (Still working on that one!)

So imagine my surprise when I found myself on the last downhill toward my driveway.

I came in and mapped my run (at MapMyRun.com) and learned I'd gone 12.65 miles.

Which means another half mile would put me at the 13.1 I'll need for race day and I think that's doable.

I'm stiff today. My knee was really swollen inside and hurting Sunday, but felt much better today. I wore flats to work just in case and I don't think I damaged anything. Ice and ibuprofen to be on the safe side.

Makes me wonder how far I could go with a good knee. Also makes me confident this distance is the longest I'm going to try. I'm starting to resent the training and wishing I could just go run 6 and be done.

It's enough.