What, are you insane?

Conversation just heard at my house:
Steve: I was just going to come out looking for you! How far did you run?
Me: 12 miles
Steve: What?!? That is a half marathon! Are you insane?
Me: Why yes...yes, I am, in fact.

I don't know. I just love to run. There are mornings where I can just not stop myself. Plus I have been reading this book about training for Marathons.

It just inspires me. My next step is to actually choose a marathon to run next year, then to count back 18 weeks to start training for it. Right now, I'm leaning to the Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN. My husband said we could make a little vacation out of it, so I just have to find us a place to stay and then sign up for it. The date would be June 22, so I could still legitimately fit the New Prague Half Marathon in there as part of my training.

This morning's run actually started out as a "mission run". My husband accidentally left Axel's (our male German Shepherd) shock color on the roof of my car. When I drove off yesterday to pick up my children, it so happened that somewhere along the way, it flew off onto the road. When he told me what had happened last night, it was already too dark to go look for it, so I said I'd run the route today to see if I could find it.

Thanks goodness I did! It was just 3/4 of a mile or so into my journey, so I picked it up. I debated running back home to deliver it safe and sound into my husband's hands...but I didn't feel like traversing the steep, muddy hill that leads back to our house one extra time. So, I just carried it along. It was at that moment I decided to run a new route that I have been scoping out on Google Maps. I knew it was at least an 11-miler, but I was feeling good, comfortable, and had my water bottle with me. What the hell? It turned into a 12-mile run at a pretty decent pace, almost race pace, yet I didn't feel like I over-exerted myself. I also used the opportunity to test out some sport gels for marathon training purposes. I'm not crazy about the whole gel-thing, but it turns out that when I took it somewhere near mile 10, I felt instantly energized. Could have been in my head, but either way, it helped me to get back home.

So, now the long run is out of the way for the week, and I can go back to doing some interval training this weekend.

Weather: 39ish, wind chill closer to 30. Sunshine and brisk south wind.
Clothing: Compression sleeves under long leggings, long sleeved top under neon pink jacket, gloves, turtle balaclava.

How many times has your short run turned into your long run?