double digits!

Today was my first ever double digit run! That's right folks, ten miles. We had perfect weather--cool (in the 70s, if not high 60s) with a light mist/drizzle. It never did rain very hard on us. I think the favorable weather plus the fact that I was well-hydrated and rested definitely helped Meg and me meet our goal, which was 90 minutes. At shorter distances we run 8:30 miles I think, but the longer run we tried to pace a little bit more moderately. I was SO proud of us. We finished in 90 minutes and about 40 seconds. Our coach feels confident that we'll be able to finish our half-marathon in under 2 hours! It was such a rush to hear our time at the end.

I want to briefly go over some other highlights/observations.

1. I want to send a thank you letter to the person who invented Body Glide. Seriously, it's the most fantastic product. It's right up there with dri-fit fabric and good running shoes. It's like deodorant for your body to keep you from blistering/chafing. I wasn't sure if it would work or not. Fantastic.

2. Jelly Belly Sport Beans rock. I bought a small pack yesterday at Body & Sole (again, the best shoe store ever). Meg and I split the pack after 8 miles. The electrolyte/sugar rush kicked in during the last two miles. I wasn't sure if I would really feel it or not, but I definitely did. Around 7.5 miles my hamstrings started crapping out on me. During the last few miles I got some spurts of energy; I felt like I could push through the fatigue. I'm definitely going to buy more sport beans. We agreed we'd like to have them earlier in the run next time, perhaps at mile 6 or 7.

3. I got honked at by a trucker while stretching before we ran (our starting point is at a parking lot right off the road) and Meg got glared at from head to toe by this really random, snooty looking woman on the trail. That woman was a complete mystery to us. It was odd. She had apparently parked next to the golf course (we assumed it was her car) and just started walking down the trail. Normally I wouldn't think much of that. It's a park. Lots of people go there to walk. But she was dressed in sort of stuffy looking ultra-pressed khakis and a nice Lands End type dress-casual shirt, and was wearing sandals. She was walking slowly. I thought she was looking for berries or something, actually. Then this long, hard glare at Meg. It was very odd.

4. We ran through the same large puddle four times. The first time or two my socks and shoes dried out just fine (let's hear it for technical fabric socks!). The third time Vickie was with us. Meg and I ran through the puddle the same way we had before. Vickie thought she could get around it on the other side in the grass. Not so much. She was in water up to her ankles. She let out this totally disgusted shriek. We all knew it was gross, but it was pretty funny.

5. Meg and I did a much better job regulating our pace today than in the past. We checked after a half mile, mile, two miles, and 5 to keep on track.

6. After our run, since we had burned, oh, somewhere in the ballpark of 1,000 calories, we decided to go out to a glorious breakfast. Meg, Brendan and I went to the Original House of Pancakes (aka, the OHOP). It was everything I thought it could be. We had to wait a while for a table, so Meg and I stood and drank coffee and talked (we were afraid to sit down for so long so soon after running). Breakfast was amazing. I had cinnamon-raisin-oatmeal pancakes and bacon. It was HARD to get up afterwards, my muscles had tightened up so much. It was borderline comical.

Today was hard but rewarding. I'm sitting here smiling as I type this. That said, it's naptime!