All by myself

Running is a pretty solitary sport. It's just you and the road and your thoughts (or your blaring iPod). Unless you're running a relay, you don't really depend on anyone else to get from start to finish. Or do you?

I've learned over the last couple of weeks that running alone is worlds apart from running with a partner. I've run by myself plenty of times, but only for a few miles at a time. The majority of my runs are with Trea. We run the same races, follow the same training plan, and especially for long runs, we stick together. We sometimes chat a little while we're out, but we're usually just trying to breathe. 

From our first 10K in 2011

But the last couple of weeks that he's been either busy with work or suffering with cold and flu season, I've been all on my own. And I was surprised at how much I missed running with someone...even if the only interaction we have is wordless pointing and laughing at fighting squirrels. Before this month, I think the farthest I've ever run by myself was 4 miles.

But this weekend, I ran 8! EIGHT whole miles all by myself! It was hard, but I was really proud of myself for doing it. I know everyone else runs by themselves all the time, but your first solo long run can be pretty intimidating. But I did it!

On Sunday, it was warmer than usual and sunny, which was beautiful before it became incredibly hot. I thought I had enough water...but I didn't. I thought I had eaten enough breakfast...but I didn't. I was underfueled, and after taking a week off because of a bad cold, I was undertrained. It was not a fun run. I stopped twice to sit down -- on a bench, like an old lady! But I pushed through and eventually made it a full 8 miles. It's my longest run since coming back from my injury, and my longest run ever by myself.

I hope that Trea will start training with me again, but I know that if he doesn't, I can make it on my own. I guess after you've run 26.2, a half marathon just isn't scary anymore.

High five!