Holy Twenty Miles, Batman!

once again, i woke up 45 minutes later than i'd planned (thanks, T) and had to hurry up eat a powerbar and hurry up drive to heritage park. 15 minutes late, according to worldly time. but right on time, according to KatieTime. i've gotten so used to running on our usual trail, i was unsure what to expect at this new location. i was pretty much just running until my Forerunner said 20.0

It went something like this:

started out with two 2-mile laps around the lake, pit stop for some Gu. what? no espresso love? i settled for vanilla bean. hmm...pretty tasty. one 3.5-mile out-and-back, two more laps around the lake, this is so peaceful, Gu, one 4.5 out-and-back, eww that leg was hilly. i did NOT like that one at all. let's not do that one again.

one more lap around the lake. i am DYING here. these legs are just about used up. ok, one more 2 mile loop around the lake. i can do it. c'mon legs. chug-a-chug---a--chug--a.....

if it weren't for my ipod and, as crazy as it sounds, the thought of taking a post-run ice bath to ease my pains, i would've walked the last mile. but i ran it all! 20 miles, oh my goodness!

20.3 miles. with an avg. pace of 9:40, i finished in 3:15. not too shabby.

but i ran these poor legs of mine until they were dead, dead, dead tired. i was pretty sure that once i got in my car, i wouldn't be getting out of it. still, i had to stop and pick up some essential big bags of ice. lots of ice.

thankfully, i had my big brother handy to carry the ice to the bathroom, where i proceeded to take THE MOST PAINFUL ice bath ever. i'm pretty sure my feet were borderline dead. five minutes, and i was outta that tub.

ok, now i can see why people think ice baths are crazy. although, i'm still going to keep on making them a post-long run treatment, because they are beneficial. As sore as a human's legs should be after running 20 miles, mine aren't too bad*.
*side note: aside from me hobbling around the house on sunday and still having a dull throbbing pain in my right shin, i'm okay. let's just hope it goes away.

This week: 6 miles, 3 miles, 8 miles. A 17 mile week? Piece of cake.