Saturday, August 1

How the heck did it get to be August and how the heck did we get to this point in our training? I hate to worry about what's to come, but next week is 10! Eeek! Scary! It's not like I haven't done it before, but it just seems like a long way to go ... plus, I'm going up to 13 miles and I know there's no talking E into doing that with me! Or is there!?!!?? E, what can I bribe you with? Starbucks? Target c9 running tanks? : )

We ventured out to a new place - SL, about 30 minutes away ... not new to the me, but new to the group for our long runs. It was also somewhat new to me, because I had only been 5 miles on this trail before and never done the whole loop.

I started out by forgetting the Garmin which made me feel a bit out of whack. But, if I were going to ever forget it, this was the run to do it on. There are mile markers every mile, with the exception of the 7th mile. What's up with that ... everyone knows that I like to know where I am in the run.

I've been having a couple of blister issues and they weren't awful, but I could feel them on this run. Especially any downhill bits or when I landed on a rock or other bump in the road. I had applied Body Glide to both feet, and put band aids over my left foot. My right foot now looks worse than my left. Ugh. I don't know if to try to pop them today and give them a rest before Tuesday. I just don't want to be worrying about this when we are only getting into longer distances from here on out.

We Gu'ed at almost 3.5 and I tried the new Gu blocks with caffeine and I do think they gave me a nice little boost of energy. But, by about mile 6, I was just ready to be finished.

The last part went by pretty quickly until we came to a huge downhill and then a huge uphill. They were both so steep and not fun. At least they were short. We ended up going through the parking lot & not finishing on the trail, so we aren't sure if we shaved a bit off of our distance by not staying on the trail.

I would definitely like to run there again ... nice change of pace and I felt better that I have now run the entire loop. It would be great for long distances ... there are bathrooms, water fountains, even a place to buy Gatorade.

DISTANCE / TIME: 6.67 miles / 1:16
FUEL: Pre race, whole wheat bread with PB, water, banana. During: half pack of Gu blocks. After: Yummy Herby Turkey bagel and I'm still starving!
WHAT I WORE: C9 tank, Nike shorts (love), Old Brooks. Note to self ... go back to new Brooks. Liz thought these might be too old and could be making the blisters worse.