Miles and Shenanigans

I love the long run. No matter what has happened the previous week with work, my diet, or my workouts, it acts as a reset button to say, "The rest of your life begins now." I feel drained, but accomplished.

And let's be honest, nothing like burning 2,000 calories in one pop to make you feel good in your jeans.


Every time we start getting up into the 20s I get nervous. Hales starts getting the texts late Saturday night:


I get nervous and forget to fuel and hydrate properly the day before. And this is just training, people-- not even a race!

Last training cycle it was our 21 miler. I was SO nervous for the entire week leading up to it! But that ended up being an incredible run! Energy levels were great start to finish. I was still rebounding from an injury a few weeks before; still, everything went so great.

Except when my Clif Bar wrapper started blowing away after the run. I couldn't move to chase after it. Nobody likes a litterbug.

{Our reaction to finishing: "We just ran 21 miles...who are we??"}

This time around, it was our 20 miler that got me. Since I don't really count pain in the foot, knee, or hip flexor as making a bad run (Miss Injury Prone, here), this weekend was a fantastic run as well!

So...the more nervous I am, the better the run will be? Weird.

For me, my long runs are a dress rehearsal for my fueling strategy. I know as long as I give my body what it needs when it needs it, it will take me the 26.2.

Good fuel = good energy = good run.

{Thank you, Tyson Park for having working water fountains in the winter.}

5 1/2 weeks until the marathon!