10 Miler, Ice Bath Blunder, and the Key to a Happy Marriage

I was almost too excited to sleep this Friday, so I can hardly imagine what kind of basket case I'll be next Friday. I was so pumped to get up and run 10 miles. Crazy right? I've never run double digit miles and I wanted an awesome run to make me forget this run. Let me just tell you,

it was amazing.

I had a cliff bar and some G2 before running and I stopped once at 6.2 miles (paused Garmin) to have 3 shot blocks and some water. I am PROUD to show my Garmin this time:

Hells yeah. 10 miler dominated.

However Saturday was set up to be a day of firsts, and while I was very successful with the first, the second was an epic fail.

I happen to be an ice bath virgin. I never thought I was running enough to need one. But I'm reading Kara Goucher's book right now and she says you should at least do one after running 10 miles. So okay, I can handle that.

So let me just share a helpful hint that my BFF Kara failed to mention: You need a shit ton of ice. AKA:  What kind of idiot thinks that she doesn't need to stop and get ice when she knows good and well she made 3 batches of margaritas the night before??

This is what I was working with. NOT SMART.

So I sent this downstairs to Brad:

And he loves me so much that he paused the UK game and went and got me two bags of ice. (If you notice our conversation from the night before, you'll see why our marriage works. I bring him beer, he brings me ice, it's a win, win!)

Running with a CamelBak... Episode 1

I pushed my long run back to today (I picked up a 12 hour shift yesterday = I didn't have to use as many vacation hours = there's no way I'm running after a 12 hour shift).

I planned (isn't that always how it starts) to get up around 8 and get the run finished early. I ended up leaving the house around 1130. I was worried about the heat, but knew that I wanted to run outside because I'm worried all the treadmill miles won't translate when it comes to the race. So I loaded up this guy and headed out:

Have you ever ran with one of these bad boys on your back? Yeah, it was interesting to say the least. I got a decent start, but faded QUICKLY (and this was the only thing I did quickly).

Things that probably weren't helping me out any:  the heat, the trail i chose (hella hills), the bag of water sloshing around on my back), i forgot my iPod, and my crappy attitude. I don't know why but from the first moment I decide to stop and walk for a bit, my attitude turns to, well you didn't really run 9 miles. Completely negative and defeatist. And annoying. Do you ever annoy yourself?

Here's what I was working with:

 I am proud that I completed 9 miles (my training called for 8, but I'm bumping it up because I've ran 8 twice already and I want to do 10 next week for my last LR) but I'd be lying if I said I was happy with it.

I was too tired to do math at this point and spent about an hour thinking this was actually my pace. Then I plugged into daily mile and felt a little better. Just a little.

My 'I'm pissed and these straps are chaffing my arms' look. My CamelBak doesn't sit too well on me. Apparently I'm not supposed to have boobs.

But it did allow me to carry my fuel (I had like 4 or 5 sharkies at halfway point) and my iPhone. So you all actually have pictures to look at instead of my rambling.

Epic Friday Night and The Money Shot

So last night was probably the most epic Friday night in the history of Friday nights... Brad and I cleaned our wreck of a house (seriously, it was so bad it took like 3 hours) and went to the gym. Hey, at least now we know a time when the gym isn't swamped with meatheads (sorry Jersey Shore has started again!). Just OCD running geeks that think "my training plan calls for 2 miles, I must run 2 miles."

This morning I *planned to get up at 7 to get my LR in. (*actually got up at 9)

I ate an apple with some PB and chased it with Powerade Zero (quick tangent have you all tasted the full fat Powerade Strawberry Lemonade? sooo good.) I drove out to Fletcher Park and started my 8 miler. The first two miles flew by, and I was really happy and confident. I had a lot on my mind because 8 miles is kind of a big deal to me. A big deal in that, dang that's a long way! And a big deal in that both times I've trained for a half, I've quit after running 8 miles. So I did a lot of reflecting and it made the miles fly by.

I stopped for water at 3.5, shot block at 5.5, water and shot block at 6.2 and water at 7. It was really starting to warm up at the end and the sun was coming out (it had been cloudy so of course I had no sunscreen on), so I circled back to a part that was in the shade and ran there.

There were a lot of people out today and a bunch of runners. It was great because I kept passing one man and another lady (we were running opposite directions) and we encouraged each other each time. I love that camaraderie!

It feels so great to hit this milestone because I know I'm not going to stop, and I know I'm going to finish the half. (I promise I'm not moving in this picture, I'm stopped).

This is the most unflattering picture ever. So Riley joined me to bring the hottness to the party. He's the model in the family.

After I forced Brad to take these pics, I was walking away to go shower to go blog, and he says "I really like those pants." Which FYI this is a small miracle because for whatever reason he hates capris. I said thanks but if you think they are cool looking, check this out. Then I proceeded to pull my shot blocks out of a little pocket near the booty. I was expecting him to be like oh that's so cool... What did I get?

"Eew butt blocks. I hope those things are sealed up real good." Thanks turdface.

I take back what I said earlier, THIS is the most unflattering picture ever. The things I do for this blog.

What are you doing this weekend? I'm trying to get Brad to go mountain biking with me. And my parents are coming over later this afternoon!