Making It Work

So it's been awhile since I've blogged. I warned you it would be a busy month ;)

I think I left off preparing for my first 17 mile run. I was pretty nervous because I felt like a zombie all last week. How would I be able to conquer 17 miles if I could barely walk from point A to point B without dragging my feet. I woke up Saturday morning and just went with flow. We finally had a run in the city- Forest Park- on somewhat familar territory, so maybe that made it easier? All the runners were in rare form Saturday morning. People were sassy, questionably sober, and probably just a little bit nervous about what was to come.

We did our usual warm up. I wonder what we look like to the average Joe who is also crazy enough to be out and about at 6:20 on a Saturday morning. The weather was perfect for running- cool and overcast. I was able to run in one of my new long sleeve shirts. Remember I told you I needed to do something about this attire. Well I did. Some people thought I was crazy but they were jealous by the end. I bought new shoes but decided 17 miles would not be a good time to debut them.

We cruised along at a nice even pace, not too slow and not too fast. The conversation was flowing. You can tell we've spent many a-hours together. On Saturday we spent about 3 hours together, and that doesn't include warm up or cool down. People are starting to get to know one another pretty well. It's kind of nice because Saturdays are our time to catch up with 'new' 'old' friends. As always, we eagerly anticipated the hydration stations manned by Bob. They provided us a nice opportunity to stretch, drink and eat. For the first time I actually felt hunger during a run. I inhaled my Gu chews (glorified fruit snacks but I'm not willing to mix things up at this point) and they still didn't cut it. Thank goodness Mary had brought her famous chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies! Since I ran 17 miles, I decided it was okay to have one of each :)

All in all I felt pretty good after the run. Gwen told me I looked strong. That is nice to hear, especially when I no longer realized I was running and my legs felt like Jell-O the last few miles. And, surprisingly, the recovery wasn't horrible. I think hydration was my biggest challenge this time. I considered myself to be somewhat dehydrated until today, but that was partially related to travel.

Speaking of traveling....Traveling after running 17 miles sounded glorious. I thought, hmmm....I get to sit on a airplane for a few hours and probably nap. Sounds pretty good. Well it would have been if I could have stretched out and brought some ice packs. Oh and it would have helped had the flight not been delayed due to a bird hitting the plane on its way to St. Louis. We sat cramped in the plane for an entire hour before pushing back from the gate. I wasn't upset because at that point I was happy to be sitting. (I had only had enough time to shower and head to the airport. No rest for the weary here). But plenty of other people were. I mean, personally I would rather maintenance check the plane out and give us the green light before we head out. Hello Captain Sulley and the Hudson River. Sheesh. Some people need to 1. Relax and 2. Get out more. or 3. Run 17 miles before traveling and then they wouldn't care about anything :)

I planned ahead for the travel. The dietitian in me packed apples, almonds and pretzel sticks. Fruit, protein, and carbs with plenty of salt. Perfect trifecta. I also bought some water and a salad. Not too bad for trying to refuel in an airport. When we finally made it to Charlotte for the layover, I decided I should grab another snack because who knows when I would actually eat again. This time- frozen TCBY yogurt with blueberries and strawberries. YUMMY. So glad I got that snack, because again we were delayed another hour for some unknown reason. Oh well, I finally made it to DC and Cesse was waiting to pick me up with dinner in hand. Yes I was hungry and thirsty again.

It's getting late (for me) and I need to fit in 9 miles around a long day of work and training. So I'm going to leave this blog as To Be Continued.....

But here is a little teaser- my adventures in DC, updates about those I'm running in honor and, of course, fundraising.