Twin Cities Marathon race report

So, here it is- I apologize in advance that this might end up being awfully long!

Here is how race day all shook out.

Sunday, October 7

5am- Alarm sounds and I burst out of bed!  My sleep overnight was spotty, but not terrible.  I DID, however, sweat a significant amount overnight.  Gross.  But, who takes a shower before running 26.2 miles?  Not this girl.  Still, not a nice feeling to start my morning feeling all grimy.

I puttered around the room, grabbed my two slices of wheat bread nicely packed away in a ziplock baggie, and went downstairs in search of coffee and a toaster.  Score, I found both.  Slightly surprised the toaster wasn't made in the mid 1980's.  Surprisingly modern for the 80's hotel.  I do have a sneaking suspicion, though, that the coffee had been brewed in approximately 1987, based on the fact that it tasted like total shit.  Just a guess though.  (Let me be clear, this didn't stop me from drinking 2 cups of that sludge).

Sludge coffee in hand, I am ready to head to the Dome!

Got dressed and checked over everything about 50 more times.  Made Jay take several photos of me.  Slowly made my way outside, dreading the 28 degree temps.  Crossed paths with a bunch of marathoners who stayed at the hotel and exchanged "good lucks" with each other.

Started walking towards my meeting spot with Stacie.  We chose an intersection that was about halfway between each of our hotels.  I was all turned around and went the wrong direction for a few blocks, but after realizing my error I turned around and found Stace.  Because she's awesome and adventurous, she was donning a bright green tutu.  Because I am not adventurous, I was simply wearing pants.  She did, however, supply me with the rockinest pair of neon green fishnet 80's gloves.  Sweet.

Brr! 

It was still only about 7am, and the race didn't begin till 8, so we went into the Metrodome to try to relax and warm up.  I expected it to be a madhouse in there, but it was actually pretty low-key.  The lines for the bathrooms were even moving quickly!

We took a few nervous self-portraits and I realized that I was hungry again- so I took a chance and ate a Clif Bar, hoping that wouldn't screw up my tummy.

Around 7:30a we made our way to corral 3 and tried our best to get up close to the 5:00 pace team that we planned on running with during the race.  For a 5:00 finish, we would have to average 11:27 pace.  We had no concerns about being able to run that pace as we had comfortably done that pace for all of our long runs.  My experience with pace teams for half marathons is that we run a little bit faster than the average pace so we could walk through water stations.  I figured it would be a similar scenario for the full marathon.

The gun went off and about 10 minutes later we finally made our way to the starting line.  And we were off!  It was about 30 degrees, but I think my adrenaline warmed me up, so I was able to shed the throw away cotton hoodie I was wearing.  The air was cold in my lungs and it felt like we were keeping a pretty quick pace.  The first mile went quickly... wanna know why?  Because we ran mile one in 8:02.  Yes, you read that right.  8:02.

Uhhh..... enter in my first sliver of doubt about this pace group.  Miles 2 and 3 were slower, but our 5k split was 33:33 (a 10:47 pace).  Between that fast pace and a pretty significant hill in that first 5k, I was still feeling *good*, but not *great.*  Oh and somewhere around mile 2ish, Danny (the pace leader) announces "okay!  walk for 1 minute!"  Stacie and I were like... um, huh?  There was no aid station, it was just a random order to walk.  This is when I realized that the pacing was going to be one of those run/walk deals.  NOT how we trained, but I had heard from some people that they really like run/walk.  I tried to be positive about it and keep trusting the pace group.  But I was feeling some doubts.

The course was absolutely GORGEOUS.  The trees were colorful and we ran through piles of crunchy leaves.  It smelled like a beautiful Fall morning.  When I wasn't distracted by weird pacing, I was trying my best to take in the scenery and the experience.

The first aid station was kind of a cluster because there were soooo many people on a narrow street and then I couldn't tell right away if we were running through the aid station or if we were walking it.  The communication coming from Danny was poor.  My irritation level was on the rise, but I was trying my best to shake it off.

Mile 11

The miles ticked away and was excited to see my hubby at mile 4, my friend Amanda at mile 7ish, my friend Kori around mile 8, and Jay again around mile 11!  Was still feeling pretty solid and there weren't a ton of hills during this stretch.  According to my watch, we were still keeping a pretty quick pace, and as I got more fatigued, I was feeling more and more annoyed with the pace group.

We crossed the half-marathon point at 2:27.

Around mile 15, I couldn't deal with feeling irritated any more.  I purposely fell back from the pace group and just decided to run even splits at this point.  I planned on trying to run 11:20ish and walk through water stops.  I figured it was time to just go with what had worked for me through all of our training runs.  Stacie was looking great still and I told her I was just going to do my thing.  She ran ahead and I was going solo.

I wasn't too far behind the pace group and for the next couple of miles I was able to see them a block or two ahead of me.  Just because I wasn't running with them anymore, I still hoped to keep them in sight to know I was still somewhat on track for a 5:00ish finish.

Then mile 17 happened.  I think there was a hill?  Or maybe there wasn't... but I started to fade fast.  It started to feel hard.  I took a little walk break and when I started running again, it hurt.  I stopped to pee at a port-o-potty.  I was starting to lose momentum.  I was really happy to see Amanda again soon after and I shouted to her "I feel like shit!" and she shouted something encouraging.  :)

Mile 19! Still trying to smile!

I kept on going, saw my friend Nancy at mile 19 and I stopped to say hello for a second and take a quick picture.  I needed to have a break anyway again, and seeing Nancy cheered me up.

Around mile 20ish or 21 I hit the wall for realz. I was sooooo tired.  My legs were starting to feel like lead.  The thought of GU was making me gag.

 My longtime friend (and former Subway boss) Howard came out on his bike and he actually rode on the path alongside the course from mile 20 all the way to the end.  It was awesome to know that there was a friendly, familiar face nearby during those last 6 miles.

And it was seriously the LONGEST 6 miles of my life.  I had to take what felt like a million walk breaks and I was feeling absolutely discouraged.  My 5:00 pace group was long gone and I spent some time in my head feeling disappointed in myself that I was going to finish so far behind my goal time.  I felt embarrassed and had a lot of negative self talk happening.  I was feeling pissed off that I felt like I burned up my energy too much in the beginning by running with the pace group and wished I could go back in time and just done my OWN pacing for the marathon.  I now know what they mean when they say not to do things different on race day than you did on your long runs.  If I were more experienced, maybe I would have figured this out early on and broke away from the pace group right away (like after we ran an 8 minute mile in mile 1).

and OHHHH the hills in those last 6 miles.  RIDICULOUS.  It felt like I was climbing mountains.  At this point, when I DID run, the pace was more like a 12:00 pace.  I would run for a few minutes, walk for a few minutes.  I never had any doubt that I would finish, but I knew that my time was going to be really impacted.

And then something magical happened at mile 25.  Something magical called Carly Rae Jepsen happened.  Call Me Maybe was a last minute addition to my iPod Shuffle when I made my marathon playlist.  I don't know why I love this song so much, but I had a brief moment of joy and suddenly I was running a 9:00 pace and was smiling and mouthing the words and felt light as air.  Call it a moment of delirium?  I don't know, but it was a bright spot for sure.  As soon as the song ended, I was back to walk/running.

I knew I was close to the end and I tried to do as much running as possible (it felt more like shuffling) and suddenly we rounded a corner and the State Capitol was in sight.  I teared up a little and knew it was almost over.

Jay was on the sideline at mile 26 and I probably would have cried, but I was too tired.

And then I crossed the finish line.  5:17:46.

Not the time I hoped for, but I finished!!!

I hobbled over and got my medal.

I hobbled through the lines for food.  Nothing really sounded good.  I grabbed a bag of chips and a chunk of bread.

I hobbled over and got my weird mylar blanket.

And then I saw Stacie and her family.  I realized how lonely I was without her over the last 11 miles.  The rockstar told me that she actually finished BEFORE the pace group (4:53).  We hugged and I cried.  I was so glad to be done but kind of sad that it was over.  We said our goodbyes and I hobbled over to get my finishers shirt.

I met Jay at the Caribou tent.  Coffee never sounded so good!

And so it was done.  I wish we would have had time to hang around the Capitol for awhile and celebrate, but we had a Vikings game to get to!  We slowly made our way to the car that was a few blocks away.  Weaved our way through traffic, and headed back to the Metrodome!

I was exhausted, but the Vikings game was awesome.  I didn't have time or opportunity to change my clothes, so I wore my marathon clothes the whole time.  Gross, huh?  Luckily for me my sweat glands aren't stinky, so I honestly didn't smell bad.  I wore my medal to the game and didn't take it off till we got home.

We hit the road after the game and finally made it home a little after 10pm.

And then I took the BEST.SHOWER.EVER.

And then I went to bed.

And I was so sore that it hurt to even lay in my bed.

And now I end the longest blog post ever.

Can't wait for my next marathon!

Here are my stats, if you're interested.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/231557359#.UHNn7zrJVVU.blogger

Mile 26!  Almost done!!!

Sweaty, salty, and proud as hell!

So tired.

At the Vikings game!

Twin Cities Marathon race weekend

I am tempted to just jump to the good stuff and write up the race report, but rather than give away the ending, how about a little post about the few nerve-wracking days leading up to the big day?

Thursday
I was feeling anxious much of the week, but on Thursday the nerves really amped up.  It was seriously ridiculous how limited my attention span was.  I was twitchy and bouncing off the walls and couldn't focus for more than a few minutes at a time.  I got up and walked around my office like every 10 minutes for no reason.  I kept looking at the marathon website and obsessively eating every carbohydrate in a 50 mile radius. My coworkers noticed how anxious I was, and took every opportunity to laugh at how ridiculous I was being.

Friday
I took Friday off work, even though we weren't leaving town till early evening.  I used Friday to pace around a lot, clean up my playlist, charge up the Garmin, and pack.... and check, re-check, re-re-check the separate "marathon stuff only" bag I had packed.  Seriously, even though I KNEW I had packed everything I needed, I still had a moment of near panic when we were halfway to Mpls that I had forgotten my Garmin (I had not.  duh).  I was glad I took the day off to get things done and get the house ready for my awesome mother in law who would be wrangling the dynamic duo all weekend.  We took off for Mpls around 6:30 and were surprised how quickly we made it!  It had been quite awhile since we had taken a road trip without two young'ns.

Side note:
We scored a last minute hotel room in Downtown Minneapolis, only about 3 blocks from the Metrodome.  SCORE!

Side side note:
Said hotel was like straight up 1985 fabulous.  Don't believe me?  ZENITH TELEVISION.  For rizzles.  Don't believe me again?  PASTEL SEASHELL DECOR.  STILL need more proof?  Arcade with Ms Pac-Man.  BOOM.

Saturday
Was SO excited to sleep in.... but my stupid body woke up at 7am anyway.  Lamesville.  Enjoyed a fairly legit breakfast (the usual fare of thin bacon, subpar scrambled eggs, toast, yogurt, etc... BUT there was a made-to-order omelet station.  YES!)

Oh, speaking of breakfast, I am SO glad my pre-race neurosis helped me remember to plan ahead a breakfast strategy.  When we arrived at the hotel, I learned that breakfast on the weekends did not begin till 7am.... which would be too late for me on race morning.  Lucky for me, I packed two slices of wheat bread and a jar of Skippy Super Chunk in my marathon bag.  I was not going to risk not having my usual race meal.  Double lucky for me, the breakfast nook had a toaster available for me to use so I didn't have to try to chew on chewy non-toasted bread.  (People, there IS a difference, despite what my naysayer hubby might tell you).  Jay, ever supportive hubby, told me I was being ridiculous about the breakfast thing.  I say not.

Anywhooooo, the expo opened at 10am and we arrived pretty much right at 10.  Picked up my race stuff and walked around the expo, drooling over new running gear, but showing a great deal of self-control!  Ate random free samples of stuff, grabbed some GU free samples, and of course, a few bags of Old Dutch potato chips (how come they give away chips at every expo I've ever been to?).  The authors of my FAVORITE running books "Run Like a Mother" and "Train Like a Mother" had a table at the expo and I was super excited to meet them!  I took a photo with them and bought a shirt that said "It's fine, I ran today."  The only other thing I purchased was a 26.2 magnet for my car (which, by the way, if you have a plastic car, don't expect a magnet to stick to it... durh), and a pair of TCM Fitsoks (the BEST running sock).

After the expo, hubby and I struggled to think of something to do.  Funny that we had a weekend free from children and we couldn't figure out what to do with ourselves.  When in doubt, go to the best/worst place in the world:  Mall of America!  We grabbed a yummy Asian stir fry lunch, some gelato for dessert, and did a little shopping.  Since it's 1990 all over again, I bought myself a sweeeet pair of turquoise cords from Gap!  We also hit up a movie, which was nice because it was cheap, and it didn't require me to walk around all afternoon.

And of course, we had to pasta it up for dinner!  We met up with my friend Amanda (a kick ass runner and the person who told me I could totally run a marathon) and went for dinner in Uptown at this place called Rinata.  It was fantastic!  A little pizza and bread for appetizers and an amazing butternut squash ravioli for my main course.  Great food and lots of laughter helped me to feel a little less anxious about the next day.

We got back to the hotel by 9pm and I paced around for a good hour getting my bib pinned to my shirt and setting out all of my biz for the next morning.  Texted back and forth with Stacie about our plans for meeting up in the morning, and then a little more pacing.  I took two melatonin because I REALLY wanted to sleep that night.  And actually, I got okay sleep... a few wake ups, but not awful.

Oh, and during one of those wake ups, just before midnight, Jay told me that he was able to get us FREE Vikings tickets and did I want to go?  Um, DUH.  Bad idea to go directly from running a marathon to a Vikings game?  Probably.  Didn't care- was SO excited!

To be continued... up next, Race Report!

anxiety

5 more sleeps.

Okay, here's the dilemma of the day.  I was going to just put this all out on a status update on Facebook, but then I realized that 95% of my friends have got to be TOTALLY sick of reading about running and marathoning and carb-loading, and blah blah blah.

My dilemma is this:

Reeeeeemember how super crazy I was over the past couple of months with my waking up early and my running before work?  Reeeeeeemember how I was like super duper motivated and followed Hal Higdon's training plan to the T?

Tapering has effed that up.  BIG time. 

Now some sort of switch has flipped in my brain and I'm in total "rest and recovery" mode.  Which.... is kind of the point of tapering... but I have a hard time getting up early now because I'm all like "oh... the rest and sleep are good for me!" 

So every morning that I'm supposed to run over the past week and change has been a fight between running and resting.  Resting keeps winning the battle.  And then I feel all guilty and anxious and paranoid that I am totally screwing myself.  I haven't dropped out of running totally, so I shouldn't feel SO bad? 

Here's how last week looked:

Tuesday- 4 miles scheduled.  4 miles ran.  (go me!)
Wednesday- 6 miles scheduled.  SKIPPED IT.  Told myself I'd do it on Thursday.
Thursday- Skipped yesterday's 6 miler again.
Friday- Was going to run 3 miles.... skipped it.  Figured I would make up for it on Saturday because I was going to run my long run and a 5k.
Saturday- 8 miles scheduled for the long run.  Ran 6.  A couple of hours later ran in a 5K race... well... more like ran/walked

It felt like a huge fail of a week.... but I guess I still logged 13.  AND I got some good rest and feel like I am caught up on sleep.


This week:

Today I was supposed to run 3 and have not yet run it.  Now my problem is if I am going to run, I will have to do it tonight at like 9pm.  I KNOW if I run late at night, I will be tired for TOMORROW's run. 

So, my question is:
Is today's 3 miler THAT big of a deal?  Do I have permission to stop feeling guilty?  Can I just run my 4 mile tomorrow and stop feeling terrified that I've screwed my training over the past week or so? 


My anxiety is THROUGH THE ROOF!  AAACCCKKKK!!!!!

10 more sleeps!

HOLYCRAP.

Okay, this is going to be the worlds fastest blog post in the history of blog posts full of run on sentences and poor grammar.  I have been blog neglectful again and busy as heck!  I am on my lunch break right now obsessing about the coming marathon and taking a break from my to-do list to do a super efficient quick blog.

Bullet points, here we come!

• I am already obsessively checking the extended weather forecast for Mpls, MN.  Weather.com probably judges me for checking so much.  Eeeek- some days the extended forecast says it's gonna be sunny.... some days it says rain.  Please please please please no rain.  please.

• So tired of early waking.  So ready for training to be done.
• Taper.  It's weird, yo.  I carry this weird guilt.... and feel like I'm carrying extra poundage because my appetite still makes me eat like I'm running 35-40 miles a week and this week I think I'm supposed to run 21?
• Is it bad that I'm tempted to go tanning a couple of times before the race so I'm not a pasty gangsta?
• What am I going to wear??
• Have I mentioned how I'm SO ready for training to be done?
• Did my 20 mile run 1 1/2 weeks ago and it went GREAT!  So surprised!  BUT, at the end of the run I thought, um.... how in the world will I run another 6 on top of this?  UPHILL??
• Just checked the weather again.  54 and "a couple of showers."  
• Yes, I know, extended forecasts are wildly inaccurate.
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•  I had lots more to say......... but I'm about as scattered as they come right now.  

OH!  I am running the "Filthy 5k" on Saturday morning.  It's gonna be fun fun fun!  I am going to run it very slowly and very carefully so I don't slip in mud and injure myself!



I hope to sit down with my little blog here in the next handful of days and write a legit blog post.  This one was just to clear my brain of all the marathon clutter.

Oh!  I forgot I was going to blog about all the marathon related dreams/nightmares I've been having.  Too late for this post though.  Next time. 

TEN MORE SLEEPS!  AAACCCKKK!.

Finally Fall!!

Ahhh...... Fall is in the air and I am a happy happy girl!  I used to think that Spring was my favorite season, but over the years Fall has become my numero uno.  Let's just say that I would date Spring, but I would straight up marry the Fall.

Wait, that's a weird analogy.

Whatever.

What do I love so much about Fall?

Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks, jeans, scarves, hoodies, crisp air, FOOTBALL, crunchy leaves, Honeycrisp apples, boots, chili, low humidity (which equates to good hair days), and THE MOST PERFECT RUNNING WEATHER.

My Beloved Pumpkin Spice Latte

The running as of late has been glorious.  After a hot, humid Summer of running in the thick steamy air and sweating upon walking outdoors, the cool, crisp air of Autumn is refreshing.  I feel like I can truly breathe and enjoy my runs now rather than just survive it.

This past weekend I went on a weekend retreat to the Brainerd area (to those unfamiliar, it is a gorgeous tree and lake filled wonderland in MN).  I have attended this retreat for the past 10 years and love catching up with old friends and making new friends.  I love being in nature (but having comfortable modern cabins in which to sleep).   Most importantly, I was beyond thrilled that I was going to be able to run there this year!  Last year I was trying to shake off injury and could only manage 2 miles.  This year I had a 12 mile to do and I couldn't wait!

I felt at such peace during that run.  I loved to take in the scenery, stop every so often and snap a picture, and just breathe in the cool Fall air.  My friends Laura and Olivia joined me for the first few miles of my run and then I finished the last 9 solo.  I missed my training partner Stacie, but through the joys of iPhone, we snapped the occasional photo and shared them with one another while we were doing our runs in different cities.

Sorry I have been neglectful of the blog over the past handful of weeks.  I find it's much harder to keep up the blog now that I am back at work full time and the miles are getting longer and longer.  The updates may be sparse, but I'll do my best to keep you all updated on the rest of training!

One month till the big day!  This week is going to be my highest mileage week of the whole training and then the taper begins.... ALREADY??

Upcoming:  5 Tuesday, 10 Wednesday, 5 Thursday, and 20 FREAKING MILES on Saturday!  Lord help me!

Oh and I still need to write a race report for the Women Rock MN 1/2 marathon I ran over Labor Day weekend.  No promises, but that should happen... soon?  Hopefully this week?

Happy running my friends!!

A sampling of the scenery during my 12 mile run in Crosslake, MN!

Almost getting blown away by gale force winds!

Minnesotans LOVE their Honeycrisp apples.

Happy for scarf season!

Some bad ass hills

a catch up post

Whooops!

Not sure where the past 2.5 weeks have gone, but I seem to have lost steam on the ol blog.  I am sure my 16 followers are WAY bummed about this! :)

A super quick catch all blog, filled with lazy bullet points and random punctuation.

• The past two weeks I have done my longest runs to date!  15 and 16 miles!  They really don't feel a lot different than 12 and 13 mile runs- what a huge relief.  I have a feeling that 26.2 WILL feel different.  I have a feeling the next big runs (18 and 20) will feel a little tougher.
• Carb loading should be a sport of its own.  I would win a gold medal for sure.
• I'm watching Teen Mom right now.  Is anyone else totally OVER this show?  Farewell Maci, Farrah, Amber, and Caitlin.  I'm done!
• I've never ever ever been a morning person.  I've never ever ever successfully been a morning exerciser.  The past few weeks, however, I've been up between 4 and 430am to finish my run before work.  Woo hoo!  It sucks so much!  
• My midweek runs are starting to get long.  This week I run 4, 8, 5.  8 is hard to squeeze in before work (hence, the 4am wakeup!)
• Fun fact:  The Real World is STILL A SHOW.  (this is what happens when I try to blog with MTV on in the background)
• We got YMCA memberships!  After this marathon is done-zo, I'm going to have a little cooling off period with the running and focus some more time on strength training and short speedy runs.  
• I went to my first spinning class since 2006.  I remembered it being a terrible experience last time I went, which is why it took me 6 years to try it again.  This time around was an awesome experience!  Since last time they have new bikes, a new cycling studio, and I am just overall more accustomed to biking.  I can't wait to have more time to do spinning!
• I think I might just be really tired tonight, but in this moment I am feeling kind of burnt out from my training.  
• Also I think people might be getting tired of me posting about running all the time on Facebook!  
• The hubster continues to be very accommodating when it comes to my training.  It DOES take up a lot of time.  He is great about not complaining *too* much :)  In turn, I try to run as early as possible so I don't dip into family time as much.

This was a super crappy blog post!

I hope to keep caught up now :)

Till next time!

8 weeks done- almost to the halfway point!

What day is it?  I'm all confuzzled and discombobulated today as I try to get myself oriented to the real world of work!  Today I am back at work again full time (the beauty of a 10 month position is having June and July off of work!) and I am trying to figure out how to adjust my training schedule now that I have 45 less hours a week available for running! Buuut, I'll let you know what I figured out in the next recap post.

For now, here's how week 8 shook out!

Hal Higdon told me to run this:
Monday- Rest
Tuesday- 3 miles
Wednesday- 6 miles
Thursday- 3 miles
Friday- Rest
Saturday- Rest
Sunday- Half marathon

This is what actually happened:
Monday- shopping all day in Minneapolis (this MUST count for some sort of exercise, right?  trying on clothes all day long sure felt like a lot of work!).  One of the upsides to doing all of this running and biking is that I am working on exchanging my old wardrobe for SMALLER sizes!  Woo hoo!

Tuesday- 3.12 miles at 9:36 pace.  Great run that morning- I decided to go the extra .10 mile to make it a 5k and see if I *could* run a sub 30 minute 5k.  And I did!  Woo!!

Wednesday- 6 miles at 10:22 pace.  A humid, rainy run.  Felt good though!  It was my birthday and I turned the big 3-4 that day.  A great start to a new year!

Thursday- ......... **crickets**  ...... *hello? anybody there?*..........
Um, oops?  Nah, I didn't do a damn thing that day.  I also decided to continue the birthday eating binge this day as well.  What happened was I had an early meeting at work this day and wasn't going to be able to squeeze in the 3 mile run.  I rationalized it because I had every intention of doing my Thursday night bike ride that evening.  Well, it was just a busy day and the weather was spotty.  Off and on rain, coupled with wind and I just didn't feel it.  Instead I went to Buffalo Wild Wings and binged on subpar wings.

Friday- Rest, in the form of sitting on my butt in a car for 13 hours (though it felt more like 1300 hours).  First day of our family vacation to Chadron, NE.  There was a whole lotta SD to cover first though!  I never realized how BIG South Dakota was, until I had to seemingly drive through every square mile of it.  Yes, I'm exaggerating, but I'm just saying, long road trips plus small children= frazzled parents.

Saturday- 2.08 miles at 10:04 pace.  My sister in law warned me that running at higher elevation might be a little tough.  I was also aware that this area of Nebraska was MUCH more hilly than flat Fargo.  So, still feeling a little guilty for skipping my 3 mile on Thursday, and feeling a little curious about what it's like to run in higher elevations before I embarked on my 13 miler the next day, I went out for a quick 2 mile trial run.... holy cow!  That felt like a very hard 2 miles.  Hills and elevation are no joke.  Granted, I wasn't running on a mountain in Colorado or anything, but there are some pretty significant hills to climb in Chadron, NE.

Sunday- 12.86 miles at 11:38 pace.  I was shocked that this run went as well as it did!  After my tough 2 mile the previous day, I fully anticipated dying during this run... either that or having to run way slow.  Usually my long runs are around a 11:30 pace, but I fully expected to do 12:00 or even slower.  To run almost my usual pace is pretty shocking!  The route we took was gorgeous, as we ran along a really scenic highway.  We ran early  (5am) to beat the heat, and we were lucky to have overcast skies during much of the run.  Lots of scenery to look at and we even encountered some wildlife.  We saw a large snake coiled up on the side of the highway, we saw a large turkey meet its unfortunate death when it was hit by a semi (said turkey was hit and then almost hit US!), and we saw a handful of deer.  Overall we had a loss of elevation, so I think that definitely contributed to my faster pace, but there was still some hills to climb along the way.  I was proud of myself after finishing that run- great to push myself to run in conditions to which I'm unaccustomed and fun to see new sights!
EDIT:
My WONDERFUL husband pointed out to me that I made very little mention about him in this run (though the photos below prove he was there).  It was a lot of fun to get to run together, which is something we rarely get to do.  We were even awesome enough to take self portraits WHILE running.  We did wait until after the run to post them on Facebook though :)   

So, that's the week!  After I finish this week of training, I am officially at the halfway point!  So excited!

Happy Wednesday!