Runner's High

Not every run is a great run, and the elusive "runner's high" is not exactly a myth, but more an exception than the norm.

Today's run was both.  I ran 22 miles and felt great.  As usual, my strategy is to start out easier and really push it towards the end.  But unlike previous runs where my pace-per-mile for the first 6 miles was about 50 seconds slower than the last 5, today I narrowed the gap so that the overall pace variation was only about 20 seconds.  And, today's run was at the same pace as my last 20, and about 17 minutes faster than the 22 miler I did at this point in my training for Chicago.  This all bodes well.

Towards the end, I was tired and with about 1/2 mile to go, I remember 2 pretty cute guys passing me (fyi, this was during Springstein's "Born to Run").  I let them go, but as soon as Van Halen's "Right Now" started playing, I said, "F**k it, let's kick."

"To kick" means to push yourself extra hard at the finish.  So I went.  Past the 2 guys, and past a number of people.  A few times I thought I was going to nearly vomit, and during one of the great guitar rifts in that song, I swear I saw stars.

I kicked through the "finish line" (aka the light at the cross-walk) and sort of grabbed onto the fence to slow my momentum and turn around.  The two guys were there, running pretty close to the inside.  It seemed like I was in their way, but the guy on the outside reaches across his buddy holding up his hand to give me a high-five.  "Great job!" I got 2 high-fives from 2 strangers, which is a first during a training run.  (Races are different).  Despite my endorphin-juiced state after 22 miles, I managed back an enthusiastic "Thank you!"  After all, it was a pretty darn strong kick, and it was like all 3 of us knew I'd just had a great run.