14.5 miles!

This morning my friend, Holly and I set out for a long run starting at around 8:30am.  My husband drove us up to the top of the Pocatello Marathon route, where the temperature was 11 degrees ~ almost 10 degrees colder than it was down by our house!  I love running this route, though, because the first 6 miles are mostly downhill.  It's an exhilarating feeling to run through the mountains, and as the sun rose higher, the trees and ground were glistening and sparkling from the ice and snow.  It was so beautiful.

So, when I run with Holly, I get in my tough workout for the week.  We ran 14.5 miles in 2 hours and 34 minutes, and that was including walking breaks.  That's an average pace of 10:37min./mile.  As tired as I was when we finished, it felt great knowing I had pushed through the rough spots and forced my body completely out of it's comfort zone.  That's where we grow, right?  So Holly was able to get in a long run before she leaves later this week with her sweet family for a trip to Disney World in Florida, thanks to the Make-a-Wish foundation and their son, 5 year old Cooper beating cancer!  I'm so happy for them!

17 miles!

Today was the day that worked best for my husband and I to do a long run together, and since our 16 miler last week was kind of a bust, we decided to go for 17 today.  We started out around 9:30, hoping that the sun coming up would warm the air a bit.  It was a chilly 20 degrees this morning, but I'm pretty sure it's up to the 30's now.  So the only thing we had to contend with was a little bit of wind, which didn't actually hit until around mile 6, so it wasn't too bad.  This was the furthest distance my husband has run, so we took it slow and used a 4:1 min. run/walk ratio.  He did great, and only started to complain about the pain starting around mile 15 or so.  I felt pretty good, though I did start having some serious hunger pangs during the second half of the run.  I had eaten when I woke up this morning around 6, a piece of whole wheat toast with peanut butter and honey, and a mini-Clif energy bar.  I also took a package of energy beans (100 calories) and another mini-Clif (100 calories), and then had an electrolyte drink in my water bottles.  That's more than I typically eat, even for long runs, but for some reason I'm having a "hungry day"!  When we got home, I scarfed down my usual oatmeal with berries and almonds, and also made a chocolate-peanut butter protein smoothie that I split with Chris.  Now I feel much better.  It always feels good to get a long run done.

(I have no idea what was going on with my phone-camera.  I've never had it take such a weird picture.  Maybe it had something to do with the sun?  Anyway, you can see the long stretch of road heading towards those beautiful mountains.  I just love running here!)