After my rest day yesterday, I was good and ready to do my long run today.  Granted, I didn’t get to sleep as early as I should have, and ran into a couple of hurdles this morning; but I did still get the run going.           

As I started my drive to Katy Trail, I began thinking that I should start running around White Rock Lake.  The new route for the White Rock Marathon has not been made public, but it has been revealed that it will no longer include the Katy Trail; it will still circle White Rock Lake.  Marathon organizers are changing the race to start and end at Fair Park.  That should be interesting! Some veteran runners of The Rock are not happy with the change, but since this is my first go at it, I don’t know the difference.  So this morning, I detoured to the lake.            

Wow it was crazy energy out there! It was full of runners!  Team in Training was around there, as well as a bunch of runners from Luke’s Locker, and some other group that had matching shirts.  All these groups pounding the pavement together.  I am a team of one and I need my own team shirt!        

After parking and getting my gear on, I took off on my run, with the intention of running 7 miles. It was a nice change of scenery; the lake was gorgeous!  After about 5 miles I decided to stay with the 7-miler, and then finish the circle of the lake, by walking the rest of the way around.  At mile 6.5, my run was a little interrupted by a call.  It was the AT&T U-Verse guy.           

Oh crap I forgot about the install this morning!!  He  informed me that he would be at the house in about 45 minutes. Oh well, so much for the intention of walking the rest of the way!          

At the 7 mile mark, I just kept on going. If I was a little late for AT&T so be it; I was on a good roll!  I did squeeze in a few 30 sec walking breaks during this long run.  I have read in both Hal Higdon’s training manual, as well as Jeff Galloway’s, that walk breaks were a good practice to extend the long run and keep the legs fresh.  I put this to work, and it did help.          

I made it all around the lake, and it wasn’t all that bad!  I ran my longest run ever – 9.28 miles!!!  I did encounter a couple of blisters on my left foot and one on a toe on my right foot, but at least it was at the end of the run. I suppose that it was best to find out the trouble spots shoe wise, so I can prepare better for the longer runs.  Who wants to have a blister when they have 10+ more miles to go!  I’m investing in blister band-aids!!          

Who wants an ice bath???

 On my way home I grabbed two bags of ice.  I’ve read that after long runs it is good to soak in iced water to fight any inflammation that may occur.  It wasn’t the most pleasant experience first getting in that tub, but I adjusted faster than I expected.  The ten minute soak went by quicker than I thought it would, and I even finished everything before the U-Verse guy got here….just in time for him to tell me that I was too far from the VRAD to get service, again!