I might have set a new PR for times I wanted to quit

I didn't have a ton of plans for my long holiday weekend. I just kind of wanted to go with the flow. Relax.

That being said, there was one thing that I absolutely had to do: Get my 10 mile run in. And  with temperatures in the lower- to mid-60s and the sun shinning, I really had no excuse not to get the miles in. Granted, it was super windy Friday and Saturday, but the wind was supposed to die down today.

So after staying up late to watch my Badgers beat up on UNLV last night, I went to bed with the plan that in the morning, the running shoes would be laced up and I'd get the miles in.

I woke up and immediately began procrastinating. Some cheesy Lifetime movie was watched. A little bit of U.S. Open tennis was viewed. Finally around noon I decided it was time to head out. So I got myself ready and I set off. And within the first half mile I realized the weathermen lied. Again. The wind? It was still pretty steady when I was heading west. But I kept putting one foot in front of the other. It was hard though.

I admit. I felt like I wanted to quit after a mile. My one knee was achy feeling. And them my stomach got crampy. And the wind. In a word? I was miserable. But I kept running, thinking I'd at least try to get a short run in.

I had decided to do two loops of (what I thought was) a 5-mile route by my parents' house. And it gave me options to cut the run short if needed. And I seriously considered it. But I kept running past those streets where I could shorten the run. I was determined to get at least one loop done.

A few weeks ago I decided I'm going to go with a run/walk method for the upcoming Fox Cities Half Marathon. I'm thinking a short walk break every half-mile or mile (hopefully the walk breaks will be less often in the early miles). I did that today, granted those walk breaks started earlier than I would have liked (blame the wind and the crampy feeling).

I finished the first loop and made a pit stop at Mom and Dad's to refill my water bottle. I seriously considered just quitting. But I was starting to feel a tiny bit better. So I thought I'd head out and least log a few more miles, if not the remaining five.

I battled the wind again for the next 1.5 miles and again thought about quitting, but once I turned north I was running with the wind at my back for the next almost 2.5 miles. And during this time? I felt good. I took some GU (today's flavor - mint chocolate - yum!) around Mile 7 and kept up the run/walk mix. Was feeling great until Mile 8.25 when I turned south back into the nasty wind. But I knew it was just a (long) straight away and I'd be done. So I dug deep and kept putting one foot in front of the other.

I ended up finishing the 10 miles in 1 hour, 58 minutes. Not the fastest, but I'll take it considering the conditions and how many times I felt like quitting.

I've got 14 days left before the half. While I struggled today at times, I'm still feeling pretty good about the race given the lack of training I've done.