Bonk!

So today was my mid-week mid-distance run.  Ten miles -- no biggie.  I was so certain it would be cake, that I didn't even bother adding Gatorade to my waterbottle; I just filled it with plain water.

And I was going strong... until after mile 7, when I began to bonk.  If you're not familiar with the term "bonk," it's basically a word that describes when your muscles run out of stored carbs for fuel and you begin to essentially "run on empty."  Your muscles won't respond well, your mind gets foggy, and every step gets hard.  This was my situation during miles 8, 9, and 10.

BUT, looking on the bright side, as I try to do occasionally, I kept telling myself, "What if this happens in the marathon?  Do you expect to feel fantastic for all 26.2 miles?"  And in reality, this tired, heavy, hopeless sensation is probably close to how miles 20-26.2 will feel.  So I pretended I was in my race and I HAD to finish.  I kept putting one foot in front of the other and plowing through it.  I played games -- run hard 30 seconds, run easy 30 seconds, keep alternating, keep going. 

And it worked!  Not only did it work, but I finished this 10-mile run (ACTUALLY, 10.5-mile run.... THANK YOU MapMyRun.com for your accuracy...) with an average pace of 8:44 minutes per mile, which is a pretty speedy pace for a long training run for me.

This weekend:  20 MILES!  THE MONSTER!!! DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNN!