Ran at our favorite lake today. Was originally planning to do 8 mi, but then at about 2 miles in, got ambitious, & ended up doing 10. :)

The first 8 were quality miles, but the last 2 were, admittedly, a bit more of a struggle. I stretched a lot on the last 2 miles, & also after the run to avoid post-run soreness. (That usually does the trick!)

I was really tuckered out by around 9.7 miles, but kept going, determined to finish what I'd started, even though there was still a final brutal hill waiting for me at the end, & I was beyond fatigued at this point. :)

My capacity was stretched to its absolute limit today. It wasn’t so much the distance itself, which I can typically cover, but the fact that I haven't run this distance in a while (i.e., since early May when I ran 10.06 & 13.1 mile distances, & after that, the longest distance thus far was 8.04 miles on July 18th), combined with the added challenge of doing that distance in rather humid weather on an extremely hilly course. :)

The course gets especially hilly at around miles 4-7, and also finishes on a long steep uphill. That's typically not that big of a deal when I'm doing smaller distances that I've done a zillion times, but it's a whole other ball of wax when I'm running longer distances that I haven't done in a while, & then on top that, there are a bunch of hills to conquer. :)

Needless to say, I definitely put in the effort today!

Even though I'm exhausted, (I ended up taking a 3 hr power-nap afterwards!), I'm glad I put in the work & did the distance.
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A few additional notes about today's run:

One of the reasons I love this trail so much is that, while there are a few scattered traffic intersections to cross, this course is one of the cooler places to run in the summer, thanks to the shade of several hundred trees, which almost continuously line the route from start to finish. There is also a lot of natural beauty & wildlife to observe, which takes one's mind off of things like the mechanics of one's running or other internal points of reference & refocuses it on other elements and happenings. All of these aforementioned factors are SO blissful & make a HUGE difference in the overall running experience.

Today's run was very memorable. First of all, I had some fun exchanges with other runners as we passed each other on the trail -- notably, one of whom happens to be an acquaintance from our running club (we've now exchanged "hellos" now on three different occasions on this very same trail), & another friendly runner who kept tag-teaming me for parts of the course.

I first saw this second runner at around the half-way mark; we passed each other as he was making his way up the gigantic hill that I had just done, & was thankfully now running down. As I saw him bounding up the hill at a fairly decent clip, I joked, "It gets a lot easier on the turn-around. That's your reward!" The next time I saw him, he'd somehow managed to pass me without me seeing him do so & was sitting on the lawn at the finish. This must've been somewhere along the final two miles, when I'd been stretching. :)

He shouted hello & we briefly exchanged pleasantries, & congratulated each other on finishing our respective runs. Found out that he'd run 16 miles to my 10! And in considerably less time. :)

I realize that this is my first 10-miler in a while, & so I'm suspending any sort of judgment on the performance. It was also a very hilly course for one, and secondly, I already know that when I'm in prime condition, I can run -- and in fact, have run -- this distance a lot faster than what I did today. Of course, today's run wasn't about speed; it was about building miles & stamina.

In addition to runners, there were a lot of friendly people out walking with their families and their dogs today, & also several families going for bike rides.

Also had a little “adventure” (or rather, a “mishap”): At about 1.5 mi into my run, I reflexively swatted away what I thought was a bug from my face. Then I felt a sharp sting on the back of my right upper thigh. I reached around to check what it was, & that’s when I saw a yellow jacket stuck to the back of my tights. The stinger had, of course, gone right through the tights, & right into my skin.

Without really giving it much thought, I stopped momentarily to pluck it out from the back of my right leg, & just kept on running.

A few minutes later, the spot where the yellow jacket had stung my right leg began to get irritated by the material of my running tights, which was rubbing against it as I ran. So I paused my iPod, & stopped to roll up my right pant leg to expose the irritated area & avoid further discomfort. The sight of one capri leg rolled a good bit of the way up with the other almost completely all the way down probably looked rather comical to the runners/cyclists/walkers as we were passing each other on the trail -- but I frankly didn't really care how it looked, just as long as it felt comfortable enough to keep running. :) There were a few quizzical looks, but it's not like I owed anyone an explanation. :)

So why, oh why, had I swatted the thing? - - The answer is simple: The yellow jacket had come out of nowhere & had almost entered my mouth before I could see what it was. Had I seen that the thing buzzing dangerously close to my mouth was a yellow jacket, I wouldn't have swatted at it, but instead, have dashed far, far away from it! It would be nice if the thing had appeared in my peripheral vision first, declaring itself as a yellow jacket. :)