Day 78

Before you read this, please trust that I am not an idiot and that I do listen to my body.

I took a "personal day" from job number one today, and I am sooooo glad I did. I slept in until 8:00. I watched morning tv while enjoy a real cooked breakfast. I drank my coffee and looked through a magazine. And then..I couldn't put it off anymore... I had to run.

Run? Didn't I just run a half marathon yesterday? It's true, but the marathon training program called for a 20 mile long run yesterday, and a half marathon is 7 miles short. There was no way I was going to run 7 miles the morning before the race started (I would of had to start waaaay too early) and there was also no way I was going to skip a post-race breakfast party to run an extra 7 miles once I finished. So... I did some research and learned that it is possible to split a long run (although you shouldn't do it regularly). Splitting a long run isn't as beneficial as doing it all at once since you've had time to rest, and it also doesn't give you the same mental workout as running for 3.5 hours straight would - but it is better than nothing.

Since I had a night's rest after the half marathon, I tacked on two miles (not my own idea, but what was recommended)... that meant I needed to run 9 miles today. I had a hard time getting out the door. I felt nervous the entire time I drove to the club. And when I finally started running it took me a tenth of a mile to look like a normal runner and not look like I was limping. After that... I honestly felt physically fine. I did throw myself a two mile pity party - I wanted to cry because I felt so sorry for myself that I had to run such a long way, but eventually I got into the groove and just did it. I did stop after 5 miles to eat a gel and refill my water bottle, but otherwise I ran the entire time.

I was amazed that I could run 9 miles the day after running a great half marathon... and not only did I run 9 miles, I ran them well. I felt like I could have gone longer if I had more water and another gel. I'm shocked.

9:52 pace - the day after my awesome half!

After my run I refueled with some chocolate milk - it's supposed to be great for recovery. Unfortunately my stomach didn't agree. It was a good thing I had the day off of work because I spent the next couple hours curled up on the couch feeling gross.

Here's where you'll all think I'm nuts (if you don't already). Sooo... my stomach calmed down... and I went to zumba. :-) My legs still felt pretty good - my quads were sore and my feet hurt a little, but I felt way better than I did the previous week after running 18 the day before. My favorite part was before class... as we were taking off our sweatshirts/jackets, Sarah and I realized we were both wearing the race shirt we got from the half. Haha. Twins! It looked a little silly, but hey - we earned those shirts!!

Alright, I have to work both jobs tomorrow (barf) so I need to get things ready for that. And I promise promise that tomorrow will be a rest day.

Total Miles Run: 264.58
Total Weight Change: -4.4