Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

What a difference a day makes.  I was all "woe is me" this past week, thinking that my upcoming HM was going to be disastrous due to lack of training, injury, and overall lack of talent.  Then I got up at 4:30 yesterday morning to run 12 miles before the sun came up, and an amazing thing happened.  It was.... easy.

Not easy like falling down is easy, but easy as in...  smooth.  Mellow.  Fun, even.  Granted, it was also super slow, but my paces were fairly even (I think - my Garmin betrayed me, more on that in a minute), and I never felt "OMG, I don't want to do this anymore" like I did on my last long run. I also didn't really have any of my usual "Gah, you're so slow, why do you bother?" thoughts like I sometimes do.  I just told myself "Nothing to prove, sweetcheeks," over and over.  Because, really.  Come on.  I am not Shalane Flannagan. I am not Deena Castor.  No one is writing articles about me in Runners World.  If it takes me 3 hours to finish a half marathon, no one is going to  notice, or care.

So.  Here's a bunch of stuff I learned on my run yesterday morning:

1. Doing a longer run in loops (as opposed to just one out and back) is beneficial because I can get more water, if needed, and make a potty stop, if needed.  Yesterday, it was needed.  Badly.  I'm sure if anyone had seen me sprinting towards my house after 7 miles yesterday morning, they would have called the cops, because I'm pretty sure I looked terrified.  I was terrified.  Terrified I was going to do something I hadn't done since I was 2.  TMI, sorry.  Having a bathroom available on your route can be a good thing, that's all I'm saying! 
2. My Forerunner 10 is not as smart as my Forerunner 110.  My 110 will automatically save a run when it goes into "Power Save Mode."  (Like, for example, when you have to dash into your house to use the bathroom and it loses satellite)  The 10 will power down, but it will not save your run unless you are paying attention enough to scroll through the screen and hit "save."  So, I lost the first 7 miles of my run.  I have no "proof" that I ran 12 miles yesterday.  Lamenting this fact to my husband, he replied "Back in my day (yes, he really said that), you just went out and ran, and didn't have all these fancy watches."    Thanks, dear, but back in your day, dinosaurs roamed the earth.  Cut me some slack. I like technology! LOL
3. At 5 a.m., when it's dark and my neighborhood is asleep, the birds are FREAKING LOUD.  Holy moly, I couldn't believe how loud the birds were.  I think they were having the bird equivalent of a kegger, because they were making some NOISE.  Sheesh.  
4. Stepping into a huge, deep puddle 3 minutes into your run is not fun.  Yet somehow, it can be ignored and forgotten if you're enjoying yourself enough. 

I'm sure there were other things, but that's all I can think of right now.  Needless to say, I'm feeling much better about my "debut" half marathon, and am more determined than ever to just enjoy the day and not worry about the clock at all.  There will be other races where I've been able to actually get my training in, and for those races, I can think about a goal time.  For now, I'm just going to enjoy the fact that my feet can carry me miles upon miles upon miles.  And that I can eat a Butterfinger afterwards and not even feel guilty. LOL