Rain Will Not Stop Me

I ran the most amazing run today. I started off not sure about how well I would run since yesterday I had a small soreness in my left knee. Thank god for the rest day because the soreness was gone by the time my warm up was finished. I had one goal in mind today, (one goal to add to my previous one which was to run without stopping) and it was to go farther then I went on my long run last Saturday(10K or 6+ miles). I did it! I went a whole 14K which is 8.6 miles and I did it in 1:29:15. So I am pretty proud of myself.

A few other reasons that I am proud of this run is that I was having doubts about being able to run for 2 hours straight. Especially since I have yet to do it since my trip started last September. During this run I really focused on my running form, I thought about the muscle groups being used, how each muscle should be working and at what points in my stride. Every once in a while my legs would feel tight or sore and I would refocus on where the pain was coming from, why it was happening and then I'd adjust my stride and muscle movement groups and poof... pain gone. This was successful not once but several times. Including my breathing. I concentrated on the air coming in and out, pulling in with my torso and tummy rather then my chest, exhaling a little longer then normal to release all CO2 possible. This too worked, each time I did it I was able to get a burst of energy. One energy burst even helped me sprint up a short hill, and then my breathing concentrating helped me focus on calming down my breathes so that I didn't have to take a walking rest. My goal is for my long run to be 10 miles this weekend with out stopping and under 2hr. Then I will move on to speed training a bit since I want my half marathon to be under 2 hours and right now I am looking at (using my mile averages calculated in my head) about 2:22:00.

The rain in my title is in reference to the fact that it started to POUR down rain in the middle of my run, I was dripping wet but it felt great even if the little voice in my head was saying.. "hope you dont get sick becasue of this"... Its a little different to be a runner in Istanbul, first of all there are not as many runners, its a somewhat new fad. Of the few runners out there I have yet to see another girl, and I have yet to see another person in what I call running outfits. I wear capri black running pants or shorts with a t shirt or long sleeve wind breaker with my Northface rain Jacket (which I did not bring with me on this rainy day!) Everyone else is wearing clothing I would sweat 50 pounds in hence why I don't wear it. I get made fun of a lot, but I see it as other people being jealous. Once a bunch of school kids laughed and pointed... the next day was my rest day. Another time some kids mimicked me running as I passed... ouch. I don't really take it to heart for more then a second or two though.

Also I made a new playlist which might have aided to making this run so great because Tik Tok by Kesha Ft. P. Diddy came on right when I needed it to, as well as Sexy Bitch by David Guetta. My most favorite at the moment is Run this Town by Rhianna, Jay-Z, and Kanye West its my motivational Quote at the moment. When that part of the song comes on I really run as hard as I can.