First 20 Miler for Marathon to Marathon

I really should’ve written this on Saturday, but I’m going to try my best to recall at least the important things…

I had to work on Friday night, and as is usual for me I was walking around a lot at B&N, including up and down the stairs (getting extra exercise, trying to take off that last stubborn 5-7 pounds!!), and I had been doing that at work. Probably not smart when I have 20 planned for the next day…Oh well. I went home and slept in till I felt awake. Got up, as soon as I could tolerate the idea I made breakfast, (normally I have to be awake an hour or two before I eat, I just don’t eat right when I get up), my perfect breakfast I’ve determined. A scrambled egg with cheese (just one) and a slice of wheat toast an hour before the run. Then within a half hour I like a banana to get some energy, I didn’t have any, but I had some banana bread, so I had slice of that…Got everything together and was out the door at 11:15 for my run. It was gorgeous. I was in tights, a singlet and light weight long sleeved jacket on top, sun was out, I had my hat and my MP3 and garmin…off I went. 9:30 was planned pace, I’ve been running too fast in my estimation at 9:15, so I wanted to slow it down…first 3 miles were good, then after that I was all over the board, with a lot of 9 minute paces. Around mile 6 I was at Lake Harriet and realized I haven’t had any water or anything at this point. I take some Gatorade, it wasn’t feeling great on my stomach but I needed something. At mile 8 I forced myself to take half a gel cause even though I wasn’t hungry it was inevitable that I was going to need food sometime to get through the full run. The run was just great, I had listened to one CD of the book I’ve been listening to, but the rest I turned over to music and a weird mix again, everything from New Order, to Shania, Jimmy Buffet, Brittney Spears and many others…:) Yes, I’m weird, I realize this. So I even sailed up and over all the hills that I sometimes end up having to walk. Even the really tough one around 16.5…I had to stop 2 times for traffic (thankfully one time was a the top of the tough hill!) and beyond that I walked once for water, but decided to just drink on the run the rest, which I did and it worked fine…what an excellent day. Got home knowing I could’ve finished 26.2 and knowing my time goals are more and more feasible with every run, and I’m still 6 hard weeks of training out!! I did ice bath when I got home, for all of about 30 seconds before I got into a warm shower, but I was going out that night and knew I needed my legs to recover. Had my Slim Fast to refuel, and also did my leg lunges right after the run, 2:30 on each leg, very sore, but I know it is just going to help me that much more. I love days like these…I’m starting to worry though as I’ve had so many great runs recently that I know I’m due for a bad one!!