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Quick catch up from last week - I ran 5 miles on Friday around 7pm and woke up Saturday morning at 6am to run another 3 miles. Normally I wouldn't schedule the runs so close together but I was leaving for Cape Cod right from work on Saturday. I figured a run so early in the morning would be nice and cool but it was more humid than the run on Friday night, wasn't exactly the refreshing run I had pictured.

Sunday was a day of rest and anticipating my first double digit run - a lovely ten miles. Monday while still at the cape Shawn had the brilliant idea to run the Cape Cod Canal.

http://corpslakes.usace.army.mil/visitors/album/images/E600406-3_jpg.jpg

The canal is 7 miles long and is marked starting at 0 miles, every half mile, to the end. Shawn brought along a bike and provided some much needed company for me. The first five miles were hot, without any breeze and seemed to drag on forever for me. Shawn stayed by my side, we pointed out things along the trail to one another and having him next to me kept me from giving up. When I hit the five mile mark I turned around and Shawn continued on to bike the full 7 miles. As soon as I turned around I could feel a breeze and all of a sudden the run didn't seem so hard. I picked up the pace slightly trying to see how far I could get before Shawn biked the extra 4 miles and made it back to me. The canal was flat and I finished 10 miles in 1:54 minutes. 

Finishing my first 10 mile run was an amazing feeling and I couldn't have picked a nicer run. The path was full of other people biking, running, walking their dogs, rollerblading and fishing along the canal. Everyone was very friendly saying hello, good morning or giving a wave. The best of all the interactions was from an older couple walking the canal - as they saw me running and Shawn biking along they commented "uh somethings not right with this picture" we laughed and replied that he was motivating me. Towards the end of the run I had Shawn bike ahead to mark the end so I would know when to pick up my pace. As he took off on his bike, another biker came from behind me and said "is he trying to make you run faster?" once again I laughed and explained he was marking the end for me. At times it was easy to distract myself from the run when I had so much going on around me. 

This week I'm going to stick with 10 miles for the long run but incorporate hills. Today was a 4 mile run, tomorrow will be 5. Saturday is another 4 and then Monday will be 10! Let's hope this hurricane doesn't blow my plans (get it hurricane = winds = blows, hehe)! 

J.