Running with Purpose

Last night, I had the most amazing run.  I knew I needed a really long run for many reasons, and set out wanting to go further than Ann St (my previous best along the bike path).  I don't know if it was the new running gear, or that I'd had a rest day (instead of running on Saturday I had a Bollywood string quartet night...very fun!), or just that I knew I really needed it, but it felt so good on the way out.  And most of the way back, too, except for a couple of stitches and what felt like my stomach jumping up and down.  So, with Finding Nemo's Dory singing 'just keep running, just keep running' combined with my normal running music (Tico Tico) and themes from Indian quartet music (yes, it was bizarre in my head), I kept running to the Goodwill Bridge and was greeted by an overwhelming endorphin rush. 

After a much-needed shower, I checked Google maps and discovered this was a 13 km return run.  I also had a text from Trainer Dan wanting to change training times for this morning, and I told him what I'd just achieved.  His reply was along the lines of, Are you doing the Gold Coast half marathon?  I'd been thinking about it, and so he sent me a training schedule.  Turns out it's an official training schedule for this specific run.  It starts 20 weeks out, but we're already up to 14 weeks.  As I'm relatively fit, it should be ok to just jump in.  At least, I hope that's the case!

Last time I did an official run (a 10 km in Toowoomba last October), my training consisted of a few runs in the leadup... Not very effective.  So the idea of actually training for a run is a bit new to me.  Not to mention getting my brain around the idea of running that far.  But here goes!