omg, omg, omg

This is what I am trying really hard to not think right now. I have done really well the last few months with taking one day at a time. Being the type A personality that I am I tend to over think, over research and over prepare for things. These past 12 weeks I suddenly had this shift of not stressing or focusing on things in advance. I can't think about the 10 mile run on Sunday until Sunday because today I am focusing my energy on x. This strategy has kept me fairly calm so I'm working hard to maintain this attitude until Sunday when I will run 13.1 miles.

Somewhere out there the rain gods decided to cut me some slack and turned Sunday's 10 mile run into a very cold but beautiful and sunny run. "I have no interest in running more than 3 miles", yep that was me about 4 months ago... I actually said this to the barista at Starbucks while we were discussing Brazen Racing. So, it's hard for me imagine that I actually ran 10 miles yesterday, but I did. The first half felt pretty good and mile 4-5 felt really good. It wasn't until the turn-around point that I started to not enjoy myself quite as much, maybe that's because the way back is an ever so slight uphill until you reach the death climb. I followed my timing and consumed my Gu's at appropriate intervals, my water was nice and icy cold thanks to the 30 degree temps. Around mile 7 I actually started to feel soreness in my legs that I hoped would not continue for the next 3 miles. As I made my way back to the park to stop and use the facilities and refill my water bottles I thought about how this was it, my last big run before the race, so I tried to enjoy it as much as I could. I was doing okay until about mile 9, I knew this would be hard, having run 9 miles last weekend my body really protested that additional mile. to add to the insanity the last 3/4 mile was uphill. I try to never take a walk break int he last mile, but dang I had to take a couple, running up my street is bear. I can't even begin to express the relief I felt as I walked in my house knowing that I was done with my longest training run. 10 miles, who does that? Me, I guess.

Today I am focusing on getting the family situated for my 4 day absence, setting things aside to pack so I don't forget anything really important and lots and lots of laundry. Perhaps I should have kept track of how many loads of laundry I had to do of running clothing throughout the training season.

I'm looking forward to Vegas, my first non-work travel away from the entire family, catching the Ducks vs. the Beavers game and oh yeah, running my first 1/2 marathon with two very good friends.

Week end totals:

Run: 20 miles
Bike: 10.54 miles