Great Long Run!

I woke up this morning knowing that I had to do my long run no matter what since I have not been able to get one in for the past two or three weeks because of camp and youth conference and being sick. But when I am woke up I had a pretty nasty sore throat. What? Didn't I just get rid of that? It felt like what I had been battling a couple weeks ago that I THOUGHT I had got rid of for good! I knew it was not going to be a good day for a long run but I also knew I had to do it. I decided to just go out and see if I could even get in five or six miles. I was positive the whole thing was going to be a real struggle. Much to my surprise it was one of the best runs I have been on in a long time! My throat was fine once I got moving and I didn't have any body parts hurting the entire time! The only drawback was thirst! I didn't get out until around 7:45 a.m. but it was still in the 70's with a nice breeze blowing. I didn't scout out a route because I honestly didn't think I would be going too far because of my throat. I just ran and tried to estimate my distance by my time. I should know by now that I always estimate too short! I wanted to get in 10 miles and so when I got home and goggle earthed my distance I was really disappointed that I had only gone nine. Especially since I was still feeling good at the end and could have added another mile easily. Usually by the end my body is begging me to stop. Today was not like that at all. I didn't even need more than one walking break and that was up a big hill. I did stop to chat with the horses for a minute because they were in a good mood and very friendly today. And I saw some bunnies and so of course I had to watch them for a minute too! But other than that and my short pause to say hi to Tyson at the cemetery, I didn't need any breaks. I was doing great and had a lot of energy. I was really getting thirsty by about mile seven and I was so happy to see a drinking fountain on Main Street! I had just ran up a pretty big hill with a serious head wind when I saw it. Water! What a welcome sight! I didn't take any or stash any today because when I left I was sure it was not going to be a long run. I text Jen to see if she had already left since we hadn't made any plans to run together today. She text back about an hour later saying she was out. I was heading home by that point and so we didn't meet up. I was surprised how much I enjoyed today's run being alone. I have some great music on my IPOD that I was really getting into. Overall it was one of those runs that I actually enjoyed. I cherish those because they don't happen that often! I am a little concerned beacause I haven't even checked a training schedule to see how far I should be running if I am going to do that marathon. Sometimes I just prefer to go with how I feel, but I know that isn't wise. I plan on doing that today and see if I am even close to being where I need to be after such a long break. I still haven't committed to even doing the marathon because of being discouraged with being sick, but after today, I think I may be able to do it! Life has been so crazy that I haven't even blogged any of my runs this week. I will include the distances here.
Total distance today: 9.07 miles
Total distance Wed: 6.72 miles
Total distance Tues: 4.12 miles
Total distance Mon: 5:87 miles