Running for Fun.

For the last few weeks, I’ve been flipping back and forth between two different training plans and have been modifying my run distances for what I am feeling.  This weekend, my original training plan called for 20 miles but since last weekend I ended up running a whopping total of 2.5 miles, I figured maybe it was best to not attempt 2×10 this weekend.  So since my other training plan called for 18, I went with this distance with the plan to tackle 20 miles next weekend.  The original plan I selected called for 5 20 mile runs and I just could not imagine this was really going to happen… I am now down to about 2-3 planned 20 milers and from the subsequent research and plan consultations I have done, it seems to be sufficient even though maybe not ideal.  So this morning the goal = 18 miles.

Since I knew this was going to be a bit of running again, I asked Sister if she wanted to run some of it together.  She had 8 on her training plan so it worked out pretty well that I would plan to run the first 10 by myself and then stop and get her for the last 8.  Before heading out this morning, I loaded up my iPod with some new music and ate an actual breakfast.  This is one of the things I am attempting to real in the Runger Beast  I think it’s still too early to tell for sure but this mornings’ experiment went just fine and I had no stomach aches, no hunger pains before starting or anywhere during and just felt a lot more energetic!  I still took my Clif shots at miles 5, 10 and 15 but it was not a desperate, starved for food feeling when I took them which was nice!

Oatmeal, banana, cashew butter + frozen waffle with butter and cinnamon and sugar

My run this morning actually went really well.  I had absolutely NO expectations about it after not even being able to run three miles last weekend at the Shamrock Shuffle.  I was half expecting to not finish my 18 but also knew last week was more than likely a fluke occurrence and would not repeat this week.

Ready for this?

I set out for my first 10 miles at about 7:40am.  I was planning for 7:30am but I had downloaded some new songs to the iPod and it just was taking FOREVER to finish up so I could leave!  These miles were super foggy!  Like could hardly see in front of me foggy… I also made the mistake of setting out with my glasses for these miles in this weather so I ended up wiping them off no less than 20 times over the next 1:30ish.  Oops!  I was surprised by how “easy” these miles felt.  I didn’t feel like I was dying like I did last weekend and I was trying to just ignore my watch to not obsess about my pace.  I did fairly well keeping a pretty steady pace for these miles though!  Miles 1 & 2 were a little faster than I would like but there was this little dude running in front of me that I caught up on pretty quickly but then when he could tell I was going to pass him, totally picked up his pace.  How rude.  So I had to keep a quicker pace to get some space between so he wouldn’t just keep trying to chase me… He finally gave up at mile 2 so I could settle my pace again.

Besides the fog, these miles were pretty uneventful.  Clif Shot at mile 5 and a few hills that I did not enjoy but other than that, not bad.  At mile 10, I stopped back for Sister and ended up putting my contact in and taking off my long sleeve shirt.  It was not exactly hot out but because of the humidity, I was super sweaty!  I also grabbed a refill of my water bottle and another Clif shot and Sister and I were on our way…

We kept a pretty good pace the whole 8 miles but this finally caught up to me with 1 mile to go.  I ran out of water and started to get a side stitch again and just could not keep up running the full last mile.  Normally when I am getting near the end and it’s starting to hurt, I just run faster to make the pain end quicker but today, this side pain won out… so this last mile was painful and slow.  But once again, I was VERY happy to watch my watch flip from 17.99 to 18.00!  It’s so amazing to think I can actually run this far now.  I’ve done it twice so I think it’s not just luck anymore, it’s actual training paying off!  Also, I finished in less than 3 hours!  Not much less, but I still have not had a 3+ hourer

Coconut milk, protein powder, banana, pineapple, oats and ice

Once I got back, I mixed up a smoothie to eat right away, had a Gatorade and started to stretch and foam roll for about 20-30 minutes.  Foam rolling really hurts so good!  And I also rolled my foot around on this tennis ball which actually helps but hurt a lot this morning

Someone REALLY wanted my smoothie...

After the stretching/foam rolling, I tackled another ice bath.  Sister was kind enough to bike to the gas station to pick some up because I forgot to grab some at the grocery store this week.

Since she was biking, I ended up with just 8lbs of ice but when I remember to buy it with a car, I’ll probably aim for 20lbs or so?  8 melts pretty quickly… As cold as this ice bath made me, I think it really does help my legs come back to life a little bit.

I heard more shirts makes it not feel so cold... that's a lie.

Don’t get me wrong, my legs are not feeling THAT great right now and I am planning to be completely useless until I have to leave later to babysit…I am also really hoping to manage a little nap… fingers crossed.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend so far!  Happy Saturday!

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