Today Em and I, sick of running around our campus, drove to a trail about a half hour away for our long run. When we got to the park where the trail started, the gates were closed. But Em and I did not wake up at 8am and drive a half hour to not run on this trail, so we parked in a nearby parking lot and ran to the trail from there.

We saw a bunch of walkers and runners, so I’m not quite sure why the gate was closed. The run was decently flat, with a few notable hills to keep you honest. We averaged about 9:19 a mile, which is great for our long run (and our first mile was sub-9 minutes!).

Honestly, it was one of my best runs in a long time. I felt great, especially around mile 6 or so. By mile 8 I was feeling a bit tired, but making it to nine miles today was surprisingly easy. I’m so surprised with how good I felt. I really, truly, enjoyed a nine mile run– who am I?

We hit up Starbucks on the way home, which was great since I stopped doing that after long runs at home. In all, the run was so refreshing and enjoyable, and the weather so lovely, that it felt more like a day trip than a run.