New 2016 PB!

I started my run thinking I would probably need to bag it a few kms in since it looked like it would start to rain any second. The air was humid but there was a breeze going that made running bearable. I knew this was my best chance at getting in a long run on the long weekend so I tried to keep my run interesting by taking a route I haven't done in a while. I thought about my friends who I knew were racing somewhere else in the city and wishing I was in better shape to be there with them.  But I had my own personal challenge that day, trying to run between 12-15km. The last two times I had finished that distance did not go well. The knee pain lasted for days and after the more recent attempt it spiraled into a major flare up that had me in the ER thinking I had torn something.
That would not be the case that day. I was determined not to push my speed, to take breaks but above all, finish the distance pain free. I had my trusty chihuahua who would also be doing a PB. We made it out to the 5km mark and I was feeling pretty good. My calves felt tight but not sore, my legs still felt like they had some "go" left in them and my dog was hyper and happy. We chugged back into town and I swung by the places I knew kind people left water bowls out for passing dogs. The town was busy with the holiday tourists and I found myself giving directions, meeting other dogs and running into lots of foot traffic. Thankfully my dog was in a social mood so he only growled at the really big dogs we passed by (little dog syndrome). Before I knew it we were coming up on the 10km mark. I was pumped and more determined than ever to finish at least 13km of this run. Dragging our butts up a large hill we both found a little bit more energy to run at a 8 min/km pace to the junior high school field, where I let Nutty off his leash so he could go exploring. A few minutes later we headed home, finishing 14kms just in time for lunch. No huge flare up followed, thankfully. I did have a bit of leg soreness but I chalk that up to running long, when I haven't been running much more than 8km recently. Even now, a few days after, my knee is complaining (a tiny bit) but not enough for me to avoid today's run.
Was it careful training? I'm not sure. I've also started a program called the Daily Burn which is a steroid version of the Livestrong workouts. It hasn't burned out my legs at all but I think it is helping condition my kinetic chain. My shoulders and arms though are another story-burn city! So, so far so good (knocking on virtual wood). I'll keep up this training plan and throw in those daily burn workouts as much as I can and see what happens.