Dear 20 Mile Run...

Dear 20 miler,

I’m sorry I crushed you like that….  Next time I’ll let you have a little more say in how it goes down.  Today, I just didn’t hear your protesting over the sound of the bada** soles of my sweet new shoes hitting the street….

Yeah, that’s ~pretty much~ how it went down.

 

I got up, ate breakfast, AND took 4 TUMS as part of my ‘nutrition’ strategy.  TMI details on why I did it, but suffice it to say, I determined that it was at least worth trying.  I have 1/2 a post dedicated to my nutrition strategy already written, I promise I will overshare next week.  

I was totally discombobulated when I got out of the car today, had to run back to get 1/2 my belongings. I ran into discombobulated 3L… arg!  This was NO WAY to start a 20.  So I stopped a second and regrouped and made a joke about something inconsequential.  Then I knuckle bumped my WonderTwin, turned on my watch... and just like that - I was good to go. 

Before I knew it, 3L, KC, T, Kristi, WineNotWhine & I were out on the roads for 20 miles.  Our first mile was nice and easy 9:40’s. 

And then what happened?  Well….

It was cool.

I was with my domestic partner.

Uh, it was cool?  

I have no excuse except that I don’t know how to read the new watch, so I ran on feel.  And I felt good.  Sure it seemed like we were passing a lot of people but, I was running on feel so…

PinkJ, SpeeDee & Lyon

ROLL CALL!!!  Here, here, here, here,…. Yeah, we were hilarious coming out of the 2^nd SAG.  The course was familiar and industrial and neighborhoods and, after running a blistering 8something pace down the Grove Hill, we dropped T at mile 10….

And picked up SpeeDee, PinkJ and Lion at 10. 

I intended to slow down.  Um.  So not how it went down.  

After Belle Isle we had a few wicked climbs… and I was with the Posse climbing through the city, thanks to WineNotWhine insisting on “SUPER HERO FORMATION”.  WnW is so cute that when we passed some construction workers on a coffee break they called out, “Hey, wait up!”  With those 3 men watching us like we were the frosting on a cupcake WnW throws her arms up and says, “c’mon” and did a little shimmy.  So I threw my arms up and joined her.  ~The whole shack shimmied~ 

SAG again, Q again, Southern Comfort, laugh again & then off again.  

Kristi & WnW

Now, we’re getting tired but we’re not really slowing the pace much, and then what happened?  Well, it’s Typical GBA**.

A runner passed us. 

A beautiful male runner.  

With Lickable Abs. 

And I sang, “This ain’t no country club… This is L.A.”

And the NEXT thing I knew we were all singing Sheryl Crow while running sub 10’s through the city of Richmond at mile 16 of our 20.  

PinkJ, Lion, SpeeDee, g., 3L, WnW, Kristi & KC

~High~ and smiling I quoted VWB, “I never knew training for a marathon could be this much fun.”

We finished strong.  Life was good.  And did I mention we were FREAKING HIGH?

We had to snap some photos at the end of the run…. cos... 

see above about ~high~

Running Mates KC & 3L

And we had to hit Starbucks on the way home, of course. 

 

<---  And, um, then of course… we had to call a PLANK OFF at the Starbucks.

Cos that’s how we roll.

~savor the run~