20 miles ~ and now I'll taper. ☺

Today is officially bipolar weather day.  When I woke up at 5 am, it was white-out, blizzard like conditions.  Determined to get in my 20 today, after I ate 1/2 a banana and had a few sips of Diet Coke, I did 20 minutes of Yoga.  As soon as it was light enough, (around 6) I headed out.  The snow was still falling, the wind was blowing, and I thought I was in for a very long and difficult 20 miles.  Around 4 miles, the clouds parted, the sun came out, the wind died down, and it was actually quite nice. 

By mile 10, the sun was making me pretty warm, but my route had taken me up into the mountains a bit, so it was still cold with a decent breeze.  My legs were starting to feel a little fatigued, but between miles 9-12 there were lots of smaller hills, so I tried to make use of them for keeping up my momentum.  At around mile 14, I had hit an open stretch of road, the sun was just beating down on me and I decided to take off my jacket and let my fluffy, white arms get some much needed sunlight.  And even with my cap on, I could feel the sun burning my face a little.  Then, with just about 2 miles to go, the clouds returned, the wind picked up, and temperature seemed to drop about 20 degrees.  At that point I didn't care though.  I had made it through what is notoriously the hardest part of my longer runs - getting through miles 15-20 without too much walking - and I still felt pretty decent.  When I got home, I quickly drank a small glass of chocolate milk, then I did 30 minutes of Pilates to help stretch out, not just my legs, but my whole body.  Now, I officially begin my taper.  3 weeks until marathon time!!

(You can't see it in this picture I took because I didn't want to stop to take the picture, it was a run-by, but there is a street sign there that says "Winning Way", I love it!)