Feeling strong

I have had a really good weekend of running. Yesterday morning I went for a run at Chestnut Ridge Park with some friends. We go there because there are a lot of hills and it's a great workout. We had planned on doing anywhere between 9 and 12. I did 9.73 (according to the Garmin). And it was a great run. I don't usually run with these people so it was great to get to know them and they also run faster than me. So I pushed to stay with them and it felt great. I think I underestimate how hard I can push myself because I'm too scared I'll break and have to walk. 

Below is the elevation chart:

This really doesn't do the run justice. Usually my runs have ascents and descents of 600-700 feet. Yesterday's run had an ascent of 2140 feet and a descent of 2131 feet. That gives a little more indication of just how hilly it was. 

The great thing about running hills is how strong you feel afterwards.

Last night I was debating on running with my usual group this morning. We were only going to do 6 miles but I was thinking I'd be pretty sore from the hills. I stayed up way later than usual last night but woke up around 6am this morning and my legs felt great. I fooled around on the computer, got to watching the Women's Marathon Championships and kinda forgot to eat. I figured this was OK since if the run was during the week I wouldn't have eaten before it and it was only 6 miles. 

We went out for our run. I started out running with just one other girl and we kinda took off. We were chatting so I didn't even realize how fast we were going. When we stopped for water we joined another group and continued on, still running at a good pace. About halfway through the run I was just feeling so great and I felt like picking up the pace. I tried to stay with the group but I got into a zone and my body wanted to go faster. It felt great. I don't find rhythms like this very often. We wound up doing 7.15 and I stayed with the group until about a mile from the end when I knew I could and needed to go faster. So I went. My average pace was 9:06. Had it been half marathon day, I know I could have gotten under 2 hours. 

I'm feeling good now and I can't wait to go back out there and work on finding that rhythm for every (or at least most) runs.