My run felt like a vacation

Wow. Is the weekend really over already? I was JUST starting to have fun..... I really can't understand how 48 hours can just FLY by so quickly like that! Maybe I should start having boring weekends so they seem longer.... haha, just kidding!

Well, let's see where I last left off. On Friday, I went for my 5 miler. I told myself I only needed to do a 4 miler, since I ran during lunch. Even though my quads were tight, I was running slower than a turtle, and I generally just wanted to not be running and instead burrowing in my bed, I got out there, and trudged through it. Somehow I managed to bust out all 5 miles and hated 98% of it, but did it nonetheless and felt good at the end. The feeling of accomplishment at the end makes all the torture worth it.

Saturday was a swim. I am still a disaster in the water, flailing around and such. If you didn't know better, you would probably try to throw me the life saver to pull me out of the water. :) James came to the pool with me, and I watched him swim, because he has good form from playing on the University water polo team. I tried to copy his style, and whaddayaknow, it made swimming so much easier! And more fun! So much so that the second half of my swim was so much more enjoyable and easier than the first half. I actually can't WAIT to get in the water again next week!

Sunday was a ten miler. Thanks to my handy dandy Garmy, (check out my mad rhyme skills) James and I ran 10 whole torturous fun miles, not 9.99!

The run was simply spectacular!

cute little humming bird

The birds and the bees

We ran downtown along the Santa Barbara waterfront. Neither of us had ran there before, so we were excited for the new sights we would see. We had NO idea it would be THIS pretty though! And running past all the tourists, all the beach goers, roller bladers, the surrey bikes, picnics, bbqs.... I felt like I was on a vacation, not a ten mile training run!

A surrey bike

I kept telling James this was the most funnest runnest (again, my rhyme skills are astonishing) we've ever been on! We kept the pace REAL steady at around 9:50. By the end, both our knees were sore, but it was just such a fun, exhilarating run :) We both agreed that we must return next week. Oh yeah, and I tried using Clif Shot Blocks for the first time. I thought they tasted OK, and they did provide a much-needed energy boost. However, they are quite large and do not fit into my pocket. The Jelly Bean Sport beans fit in my pocket, and I can safety pin the Gels onto my pants, but I don't know how to carry around the shot blocks. Any hints?

After the run we got some protein smoothies; mine was a Papaya shake, and it was JUST what the doctor ordered. Hydration + Carbs + Protein = Full and Happy Julia. After all that was a quick stop in the hot tub to loosen up those leg mucsles and some much needed ibuprofen. I am glad to report that I have very minimal tightness/pain in my legs today! Woo hoo!

Bring it on, week two!

Oh and check out Jackson's World for an awesome Gracie's Gear giveaway and Tall Mom's T-shirt giveaway, but don't enter so I can win! haha