Smoked it:)

Today I headed out for my longest run since August.  I was to run 90 minutes and I figured I would make it between 9k and 10k.  I didn't expect perfection but I thought I could probably get pretty close to 10k.  I have been getting faster but my last 10k time was 1:38:39.  I prepared last night to make sure I had everything ready and wouldn't have any real reasons to skip out today.  I checked the weather forecast and had two options for layers depending on the wind.  When I got up this morning the sun was out and the wind was gone:)  I knew right then that today would be a good one.  I got myself ready, had a snack and headed out.  When I got to Runners' Edge I was greeted with my new shoes.  I've been dying for new shoes for a bit now but I have big feet (10.5) so they had to order them.  I think it's only been about a week and a half but that felt like forever.  They came in yesterday though and Christina got them out for me as soon as I got there this morning.  They felt so nice!!!  It's amazing what new shoes do for your run.  We headed outside to warm up and then off we went.  I felt really good right from the beginning and when I hit the 9k turn around I was happy to see that I still had a good 10 minutes before I had to turn.  I kept going and looked at my watch again at the 10k sign.  Still 4 minutes to go!!  I continued on down the road and turned around right at 45 minutes.  My trip back was a bit harder but nothing terrible.  That is until I choked on my water:(  I always pull my water bottles open with my teeth but for some reason today water came shooting out and right down my throat.  I choked and sputtered and walked for a minute, then was on my way again.  There is a hill and an overpass that slowed me down a bit but I kept on going.  Getting close to being back to the store I looked at my watch and saw that I was almost at 90 minutes and also almost at 10k.  I should have been able to make it about 10.5k but the water incident slowed me down a bit and every time I wanted a drink after that I walked for few seconds.  However, I ran 10.10k in exactly 1:30:00.  That's almost 9 minutes less than last time!!!!  I'm very happy with that and feel that much more confident that I can finish the Half Marathon in June and will live to tell the story.