There are some mornings when the stars align and you have that perfect run…

This morning was not one of them!

 

It’s not that it didn’t have the making to be a good run.  We had a delicious and carb filled dinner opting for water instead of red wine last night.

 

 

Then I went to bed early and slept beautifully!  Although it was early, I happily climbed out of bed at 6:30 this morning, ate a Dough Boy Smoothie for breakfast, packed up my belt, and headed out for my 18 mile run at 7:10am.

 

 

Since my Mom was unavailable, I suggested that the BOY bike with me during my long run.  Considering I have only seen him on a bike once in the 7 years we’ve been dating, I was not at all surprised when he said no, but happy when he suggested that he meet me half way for water and fuel refills.  I planned my run to finish ~9 miles at the park not far from our house.  I had thought about packing up a head set, but realized since I wouldn’t be using one in the marathon, I didn’t want one today.  I started off slow, but along the way, picked up a new friend and therefore my pace (~8:30 min/miles) for 1-2 miles while chatting about running and marathons before he headed home.  The benefit of being out at 5:30am is that he was heading home as I rounded mile 6.  At 9.5 miles, I jogged up to the BOY where I chugged some water and attempted to eat an energy gel.  I had gotten it free in a race goodie bag and it was so awful, I couldn’t swallow it or finish it!  Instead, I finished the Larabar I’d eaten half of around an hour and drank some more water and used the bathroom.  Right before I was set to head back out, I remembered that my sock was bothering me.  I took off my shoe to adjust it and discovered that both my sock and shoe were covered in blood (just like on this run).

 

 

I didn’t have any bandaids, so I hopped into the car with the BOY to head for home where I cleaned up my toe and my sock and then decided to change tops since my tank was already sweaty.  In the whole process, I lost about 30 minutes and still had another 8.5 miles to go.  I gathered my pack (with no food) and went back outside.  Although my legs felt tired and stiff, not once did I even consider not finishing today’s run.  The back half of the run was much tougher than the front half, and I think throughout the entire 18 miles, my splits were all over the place!  The worst part about losing 30 minutes was that the sun was blazing by the time I strode up to my house competing 18 miles in 2:51:04.   Upon walking inside, I immediately (and dramatically) collapsed on the floor to catch my breath.  The BOY pulled me out of my recovery because we were hosting an impromptu BBQ at our house for my family, who would be arriving in an hour!   And we still needed to run out to the grocery store.  Lunch was FANTASTIC, and the BOY really outdid himself with seared tuna and homemade spinach and feta turkey burgers (I told you it was impromtu but also a little random based on what we had in the house).  My Mom provided an array of dessert’s from Tony’s amazing bakery.

 

 

It was an awesome afternoon!  After lunch, Cooper and I curled up for an hour and a half nap.  The BOY and I have another BBQ this evening, and I knew I wouldn’t make it awake past 8pm if I didn’t get some rest.  I forgot how draining long weekend runs can be (but according to Hal’s book so important physically and psychologically).  They just knock me out for the rest of the day!

 

 

Take Home Message: Sometimes runs like today are necessary to remind you that it doesn’t have to be the perfect training run to be a successful one.  They are also important to show that even when you have to stop, rest, stretch, or add a bandaid, you can always find your way back to the course and proceed on to the finish.  Take Home Message Part II: Pack bandaids in your running pack!!!

 

Weekly Mileage: 39 Miles

 

Despite being sick, I was able to get in all of my miles this week although some not as pretty as others.  I am looking forward to a Sunday yoga class and next week’s cut back week of lower mileage.  In other news, I signed up for the 20 miler this week, which is a cool, local supported run to prep for the marathon.  I told my new running buddy all about it this morning.