The Planned 20 Miler

I was so excited to have the 20 miler last Sunday. I couldn't wait for how BA I was going to feel, how delicious fatty cake Sunday was going to taste, and how wonderful a nice, long ice bath afterwards was going to feel.

... is it weird that I now look forward to ice baths? I think it's weird.

It was a chilly Sunday morning. We had gone from highs in the 80's all week to a low of 43 and a forecasted high of 58*. Brrrr.

I figured the weather would be close to what it would be in Ireland, so it would be a good training run, right?

Uhhh, last I remembered, the wind did NOT blow like that in Ireland.

Run/walking in the hot Kansas summer months = awesome.
Run/walking in the chilly and windy Kansas October mornings? Not so awesome.

The first 5 miles were fine. Don't really remember them, except for the Mumford & Sons song that was on repeat in my head. Mile 6 dragged on forever, but 7 & 8 flew by. I had to stop and stretch a few times, but wasn't too worried. Meh, whatever.

Then, closer to mile 9, I had to stop and stretch for a long time. It was at this point that I wondered how the old injury was going to hold up for 11 more miles. A half a mile later, on a walk break, there was a stabbing pain.

That's when I knew that the 20 wasn't going to happen.

Part of me was relieved; my mental game was a little off - it would have been a rough few final miles anyway. Part of me wasn't happy. It was my 20, for goodness sakes!

But, I was still 4 miles from home. I texted someone to see if they could pick me up, but without an immediate response, I continued on. Things actually felt better while I was running; it was simply when I was walking that I would really be uncomfortable.

In any case, I kept on. 2 minutes run, 2 minutes walk. Slowly but surely (as with every run), I made it home. 13.4 miles. Not too bad.

I'm not worried that I didn't get the 20 in. I'm not worried that I had a flare up of the old injury. It's nothing a little extra TLC can't handle. In fact, the ice bath and some Stick work helped quite a bit already.

However, I'm really annoyed that I was 6.6 miles short. That's it! Gah! I may be adding an elliptical workout this week just to get that 6.6 in ...

The last speed session is this week. Mile repeats. Gross.
Then running group with a former Loopster and my bestie who wants to get back into running.
Then 12 on Sunday.

I guess now technically I'm on the longest taper in history.
Also, I made brownies tonight, frosted them and ate two. Now I want to throw the rest of the pan out.

Instead, I froze them.

Ya know, just in case.