A Valentine's 20 Miler

Phew! What a weekend it's been, and what a week it's been! It's busy busy busy over here, and I know I have been slacking on the posting.

But can I just say! Wow. You guys are truly amazing and helpful! I'm kind of secretly glad I'm not the only one with stinky stink workout clothes... heehee. Thank you so much for your helpful advice! I definitely will try the baking soda and vinegar method first before I spend $$$ on a tiny bottle of sports detergent. Vinegar.... who knew it was good for more than making salad dressing?

And OMG thank you soo sooo much for my Garmin help yesterday. I thought I was going to have to dish out more $$$ for another Garmin :(. You totally saved my sanity! Muchos Gracias!
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I'm going to postpone my Wednesday topic today, cause I have a lot of weekend workouts to catch up on!

Most memorable was the Valentine's Day 20 mile run.
I mean, what better way to celebrate than a grueling 20 miler? I can't think of anything better :)
Look at me, all chipper and cocky and self confident before the run. Yeah. I totally think I'm the shit right here, like, yeah, no biggie. 20 miles? Got it.
Look at the pretty flowers! It was 70+ degrees out, not a cloud in the sky.... a picturesque day.... but also the hottest weather we've ventured out in since.... September???? A sudden jump in temps can be..... brutal. Oh how naive we were.

Sunday morning was an "early" wake up call at 6:30AM. James and I had every intention of starting and finishing the run "early", and we "busted our balls" speeding through the morning process to head out the door..... at 10AM. WTF????? How the HECK did we spend 4 hours getting ready? I didn't even spend 4 hours getting ready for prom!
Let's see... there was breakfast.... putting on running gear.... warming up..... Seriously.... 4 hours??? crap.

So by the time our run actually started, it was hot hot hot outside!
So hot that I looked like this by mile 5. Totally worthy of a Runner's World cover. Or maybe a centerfold. You can hang it up in your room if you like :)

But maybe I'm exaggerating. The weather definitely made the run harder, but it wasn't unmanageable. I was just used to running in 50-60 degree weather. But I had plenty to drink, so no problemo. James and I also ran through a new part of town, which helped make the run more interesting. And easier. How the route managed to be mostly downhill, I may never know, but when you're running 20 miles, it's best not to question those things! :)

We also had some funkalicious vegetation to check out:

It's like a big bush that's sprouting branches. Weirdness.

And it wouldn't be a Valentine's Day run without a little bit of romance. Warning: tackiness and corny ahead!!!!!

Per my genius suggestion, we played this game called "kiss at every mile + 20 things I love about you".

Told you it was sickening :)

By mile 20 though, we had gotten quite skilled in the art of rissing: running+kissing. Go ahead, think what you want to think, but I am a girl, and I loved hearing 20 amazing things about myself at every mile :) Not that any of it was news to me, I know I'm a generally all-out amazing person (obvi... haha jk), but it did put a smile on my face without fail, and gave me something to look forward to, other than the Beep Beep! from Garmin.

We took plenty of breaks along the way; three to refuel, and a couple just to shake off fatigue from our legs. A big negative to this particular route we ran was that a lot of the surface is slanted/banked, kind of like the image to the left. (That's NOT the road we ran on, it's just for reference. Image source) The problem with banked roads it that pain will be magnified. HOLY MOLY. My ITB, my ankles, my hips.... they were all screaming and begging for mercy by the end. I think training on banked roads for the SB Marathon was the reason I developed ITB issues in the first place. I tried running on the flattest part possible, but MAN did it hurt. Three days later and my ITB is still tight tight tight.

But all in all, we maintained a fast (for us) average pace of 9:47. Not bad, not bad. One more long run (22 miles) until LA, baby!

The weekend was otherwise filled with a nice long walk, two long bike rides, and my first swim since October. The weather is just plain gorgeous. I just could not stand to be trapped inside! There is just something about being outside that brings me so much joy in my heart. I can't explain it, but I have this goofy smile plastered on my face and I'm just like a little puppy who saw sunshine for the first time.

As always, I am rambling. But I hope everyone had a fun weekend, filled with running and watching the Olympics! How cool is it that they have a winter version of the biathlon? So cool. And the slalom racers. What are your favorite events?

And before I go, a huge shout out to Eliza from Eliza on the Run! She has a very special announcement on her blog... Go get em tiger!

Have a humpalicious one!