My toe and a 20 Miler!

My Toe:
I cannot believe I forgot to write a little blurb about my toe on my last post.  Some of you wrote comments asking me how it was (thanks!), so I thought I'd give you a little update.  For those of you who didn't read about it, you can see my lovely toe here.  Well, I'm happy to say that it is feeling much better!  I was actually able to drain it a little bit, but I just could not bring myself to take the nail off.  The swelling is gone, there is no pressure under the nail anymore, and it is almost pain free.  Yay! I know it is going to fall off eventually, so I'll just let Mother Nature decide when it's time for it to come off.  Until then, I'll deal with the black nail! :)

My 20 Miler:
Or otherwise known as the kick ass, confidence booster run I needed! :)
We had a little "cold" front come to Denver yesterday, making the high only in the upper 60s/low 70s.  Since the sun doesn't come up until 7A, I decided to start my run around 7:30.  It was in the 50s and I could see my breath when I got out of my car.  Brrrrr.  But, I knew I would warm up over the next 3 hours or so.  I decided to wear my shorts with my compression socks instead of my running tights b/c I wanted to see how they felt during a long run.  I know this was a gamble, especially since I was running 20 miles, but I was willing to take the chance.

I started running and was amazed at how many other people were already out on the trail.  I run on this trail a lot and I have never seen as many runners on it as I did yesterday.  It was awesome!
The trees were also very beautiful.  I took this picture at the beginning of the run.  Almost all of the trees along the trail were already changing.

I tried to keep my pace around 9:30 again, but my legs just wanted to go!  I don't know if it was because I was more rested, but my legs just felt "fresh."  I settled into a pace somewhere between 9:00-9:15 and just kept running, hoping this pace wouldn't come back and bite me later in my run.

7 miles into my run, I crossed a road I had never crossed before and continued on the path onto unchartered territory.  It was nice to be running along a new section of the trail and I really think this made my run go by faster then usual.  Around mile 9 I passed a park with a water fountain and a port-a-potty and made a mental note of where it was.  I made it to 10 miles, did a quick fist pump in the air, then turned around.  I was feeling really good and I was actually excited about completing the second part of my run.  I reached the water fountain, refilled one of my water bottles, then used the port-a-potty.  This is probably more info. then you care to know, but up until that point, I had been ducking behind trees and bushes to do my business.  So, it was nice to actually have a place to "go."  :)

Around mile 13, I saw two women running in front of me that looked really familiar.  I ran up next to them, and it was Julie from You Just Have to Tri! and Kathleen from Dare to Dream.  I was so excited to see them!  I ran next to them for awhile and learned that they were doing 11 miles!  They are both doing the Denver 1/2 marathon.  We chatted for a little bit, then I headed out to complete the rest of my run.  It was so fun to see them and it really gave me a boost of energy to keep on keepin' on!

From that point on, I just kept ticking off the miles.  I would get to mile 14 and say, "6 miles to go."  Then, before I knew it I was at mile 15.  5 miles to go.  At this point I decided to pick up the pace a little bit and run a couple miles at my marathon pace.  I got to mile 18 and remembered how hard my last 18 miler was at the end.  But today, I felt different.  I felt strong and was just having a great time being outside running.  I kept up my pace and was overcome with joy when I reached my car!  20.15 miles in 3 hrs. for a 8:58min/M avg. pace!!

Happy to be done with my first 20 miler! :)

I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED my compression socks! They were really comfortable...not too tight and not too loose.  I didn't get any blisters, my feet never got hot, and I truly believe they helped me get through the run.  I will definitely be wearing them for my marathon.

See all the dust?  Yeah...my socks and shoes got pretty dirty from the trail!



I got home, and this is where I sat for the next 15 minutes.  Brrrr!  And  yes, I have swimsuit bottoms on!

Can you see my goosebumps?  Here, let me help you!

Then, after a nice, warm shower, I slipped on my compression tights and headed out to lunch.  Chipotle veggie burrito bowl anyone?

Overall, I was super happy and excited after my run!  That is the longest I have ever run, and I now know that I WILL be able to make it to the finish line of my marathon!  Yay!

I hope you are all having a great weekend! :)