On Sunday I had what is my most memorable run to date.

And it was a run that almost didn’t happen.

I was planning to run 11 miles, and I didn’t wanna do it. I put it off until Sunday in the hopes that the gloomy, cold weather of Saturday would improve on Sunday. But as I looked out the window a little before 2 p.m. on Sunday, all I saw were clouds and drizzle. Awesome. I got on my running gear, thinking in my head that I didn’t want to do it, probably couldn’t do it (because 11 miles is a LOT of running). I was even talking to Stephen about giving up on the half marathon altogether because I dreaded the whole thing.  (Nerves of steel, I have.)

When I left the apartment and headed for the park and it started raining harder, I came *this close* to turning around and calling it a day. But something made me continue on, and I told myself that after 30 minutes if it was still raining, I would leave. So I set out in my rain jacket and gloves and iPod, and suffered through the first 2.6 miles. By that time around 33 minutes had passed, and while I certainly wasn’t having a wonderful time, the weather really wasn’t bad enough for me to quit. I then took my run to the neighborhood directly behind the park. As I ran, the rain let up some, but the wind was rather gusty and cold. However, I told myself I was already out there–nowhere near my car–so I may as well keep going.

Then IT happened.

I have read about the “runner’s high” and heard other people talk about it, but I personally have never experienced anything like it during a run. I usually feel pretty great after finishing a run, but during it? During runs I usually just wish I were doing anything but running, and I was convinced that those runners who talk about a “high” were a bunch of liars. But Sunday was different. All of a sudden, about 45 minutes into my run, I realized that I felt GREAT. I’m talking really, really good. I ended up running for 26 minutes straight, no walking breaks. It was windy, somewhat wet, and there were hills, but I didn’t even care. I was ENJOYING myself. I could hardly believe it, but I found myself running around that neighborhood with a smile on my face. After a 2 minute break where I ate my granola bar, I ran for another 10 minutes, then took a break, then ran for another 10. I basically abandoned my run/walk intervals and just ran because it felt good and walked when I needed to. 

I don’t know exactly how far I ran, but my total time was 132 minutes, and I feel almost certain that I covered 11 miles. When I finished, my calves were burning, my hips were sore, and I was a sweaty mess, but all of that faded away as I realized what I had just done.

I ran for 132 minutes (well, ran/walked), and I enjoyed it.