Longest Run Yet

Today I completed my longest run yet in my training. It wasn't planned at all but turned into a really great and memorable run. It wasn't the ideal time of day to run, but the opportunity presented itself. I made the decision that I was going to give it a go and there was no turning back even though it was mid afternoon, I was already exhausted, didn't really feel great, and a storm was lingering in the foothills. I figured I didn't have much to lose and sometimes a long run is the fix for all of those. Although there were many excuses, a great friend took all of my kids and gave me a few free hours and the temperature was very enjoyable for a run so those reasons trumped my excuses not to go. I committed to the run and took it nice and slow.
On my way out, I was running against a pretty strong wind and had some scary clouds behind me. About a mile into my run, I encountered a problem with crazy birds. This was the most challenging part of my running so far. The birds were sitting on the wires and as I approached them, they started flying right over me and would swoop down super close to my head. I kid you not that I actually had to swat them away. And this didn't happen once. It continued throughout the majority of my run. That was definitely a bit of a distraction!
The rest of the run was pretty smooth. I decided to take it slow and steady. I had no choice starting out because the wind was hard to run against. I had planned to pick it up on the way back but my knees got the best of me on this run.
With an 11 mile run on the books, I am almost half way there for my long runs with a little under 5 months to go. It is a great feeling to make progress and increase these runs.
Since it was late in the day and I wasn't prepared for this run, I was starving and feeling a little dehydrated after. I enjoyed the best smoothie ever for a post run snack/meal. I used coconut water, frozen mixed berries, vega chocolate protein powder and banana.