Done and done!

I did it! I ran 16 miles today! OMG I'm so completely sore and I totally wanted to quit - but I did it! We started at the asscrack of dawn this morning, so I made sure to go to bed early (although I was awoken several times throughout the night). I was actaully wide awake and ready to go when the alarm went off. I managed to eat all of my breakfast and drink all of my shake (which I never do). 5am came around and off we went on a race against the heat. It's supposed to hit 100 degrees here today. Thank goodness we run before the sun comes up! Of course there are pros and cons to running in the dark, but I really enjoy the fact that before about 7am the runners own the roads. It's so nice and peaceful while everyone is sleeping. It makes you forget that Houston is such a big city with so much traffic.

The run itself went very well. I had my first GU at the water stop at 6 miles. I was already starting to feel hungry so I went ahead and downed one to combat the hunger. It worked. I was tired already, but the GU gave me a little extra energy to keep up the pace. We made it all the way to the 10 mile water stop before we rested again. E took her first GU here and I had a few Cliff Margarita shot blocks (which are pretty tasty by the way). We started off again, me more tired than before and her continuously reminding me that we only have a 10K to go. We made it into Memorial park and I was really starting to hurt. At the stetching area, I convinced her to stop and stretch. My hips were tight, my calves were hurting and it was really strenuous to run. We were at mile 12 with only 4 to go. I honestly did not know how I was going to make 4 more miles. But I just took it one mile at a time and somehow we kept getting closer and closer to the finish. I can't tell you how happy I was for the run to just be over (and in less than 3 hours)! My whole body was immediately screaming at me and all I could think about was getting in an ice bath. For once, I actually craved the ice bath. So far, I'm feeling pretty good now that it's over and I'm home. I think it's nap time now. :)

Oh, and yes, I did! I think I deserve it.

Cheers to not being sore for the rest of the day! Happy Saturday!