Longest run ever!

I ran 14 miles on Saturday.....0.9 miles longer than my longest run ever! It wasn't too bad. The weather was perfect....a little bit of a breeze, in the 50s, and sunny. It was a tad bit humid, but I dealt with it. Eric was so kind to do it all with me on bike. He was sick, so it was definitely not fun for him, but I am very grateful for his presence.

I feel really great after accomplishing those 14 miles without the assistance of my running group. I ran for 2.5 hours basically by myself. Could I train for a whole marathon on my own? I definitely have some bad runs. Maybe if I just started training earlier (20 weeks out instead of 16 or something), that would provide me some time to have those "off" days and cut down the mileage. Hmmm. It's something to keep in mind for the future.

I felt ok during the run. With about 5 miles left, my knees really started to bother me. I don't know if that's because I was starting and stopping a lot or what, but they hurt. That's probably not a good thing. Maybe I need to start doing some weight lifting for my lower body as well. My legs are in pretty good shape...but maybe my knees are a little weak. It's worth a shot.

This week I'm going to run with the group on Tuesday and Saturday. Thursday will be on my own, as usual (and maybe cutting the mileage down a little again...because my legs are always exhausted on Thursday for some reason). Saturday I have 16 miles to look forward to. The good thing is, after completing the 14 mile run, I felt like I could've added a couple more miles on if I would've had to. So I'm thinking 16 miles won't be so bad. Only time will tell :).