20

I kept meaning to post about my 20 from Saturday, and I kept forgetting or getting too busy! Saturday turned out to be an unseasonably warm day for the first part of March, about 65 or so. I went out early at 6:30 to do 2 miles before starting with the main group at 7, and I got hot just from that. I knew that wasn't a good sign.

When our main group started at 7:00, I was actually feeling pretty good up until about the time we turned around. We had a pretty good sized group for the first 7 miles or so, and had a good conversation going. The first 3 miles of our route were through a HILLY neighborhood, but after that we jumped on the trail and it was relatively flat. The second aid station had Jolly Ranchers, which I was super excited about, because the last time I took Jolly Ranchers with me on a run was at IMFL. I had kind of forgotten about them! I highly recommend them for long runs.

It ended up being only Kristi and I going 18 miles (I only had to do 18 with the group since I'd already done 2), so we were by ourselves after everyone turned around. We were having a good time, and I was feeling pretty good, despite the fact that I was getting really hot. When I'm running in the heat, my fingers tend to swell pretty bad, and that had already happened. I know 65 degrees isn't "hot", but it sure is when you've been running in 30 degree weather or cooler for the past 5 months.

After we turned around I really started hurting. My hips were sore, and my left foot was starting to bother me again. I did something to it on my 16 mile run 2 weeks ago, and it hasnt bothered me since, but I hadnt done any very long runs either. So between my foot, my hips, and my sausage fingers, I was not a happy camper. But Kristi was feeling it too, so at least I had some company in my misery. By the time we got back to the neighborhood portion, we were both just DONE. We ended up walking probably a mile total of the last 2 miles. Disappointing, but at that point I really didnt care. I was just happy to have gotten in my 20.

On the bright side, my feet didnt blister any more than normal. On Sunday I cut my blisters off completely and have been keeping New Skin on those areas, so I'm HOPING that will help the issue a little bit. They always drain on their own, but then I never take a long enough break from running to let them really heal. So they just fill up again the next time I run. I've been laying off the running this week hoping that my foot issue will resolve itself.

I made Dan go get my Chipotle this time, and I scarfed that thing down in about 2 minutes. 20 miles makes a girl hungry! Up this weekend is a nice "short" 12 miler. Can't wait!