5 miles. Done and done.

Saturday's run was a long one, the longest that I've had to do in awhile.  As usual, I didn't WANT to do it, but I did, but I didn't, but I did (or else I wouldn't have signed up for the 1/4 marathon in the first place).  I carefully planned how the day would go, in the back of my mind, giving myself permission to skip it, but also threatening to kick my own ass if I did.  My relationship with myself is complicated.  In the end, I got it done and here's why:

1. I gave myself permission to walk.  Did I want to walk?  No.  But did I decide that it was ok if I did? Yes.  And I did end up walking on/off for the last 1 1/2 miles or so.  I'm happy to report that the side stitch stayed away and that I just started to tire out and dehydrate a bit.  All in all, I'm happy with how it went though.  I ran for almost 3 1/2 miles, not fast, but not walking.
2. My husband told me to enjoy it.  What a revelation.  This builds upon the whole idea of "this was my big idea" and takes it to another level.  Go out there and have fun.  That's what I did.  I enjoyed my neighborhood, the sunshine and the little boy who so graciously moved his tricycle off of the sidewalk for me to pass by.
3. I said that I was going to run.  I cancelled a pre-concert lunch date with friends so that I had time to get 5 miles in.  How dumb would I have felt if I would have gotten to the concert and said "I didn't do it" when asked how my five miles was?  Pretty dumb.  So instead of humiliation, I got a couple of high fives.
4. Sunday was a rest day.  All that was standing between me and more than 24 hours without thinking about running was 5 little miles.  Those five little miles would give my metabolism the boost that it needed to let me have fun at a tailgate, without completely throwing my progress down the drain.
5. 13.  Why is this important?  Its the number of miles that I was supposed to finish last week, and that 5 miles was the last chunk of mileage.  It also let me have my first continual highlighted line across my training plan, with no X's to mark out missed miles.