30 of 50 Miles Completed for the Weekend!

The first longest run of the training program is complete! 30 miles today with KP over in Santa Monica and Brentwood. We completed the run in 5:26:43. We started at 5:30am and finished right around 11am. Most importantly, for me - my knee survived!

The run was not without pain, for sure. My knee was hurting between miles 18-22. It was at this same point last week (24 miles) that my knee started to hurt a lot. We were at the exact same point in the route. The dread zone.

I contemplated turning around, but the appearance and disappearance of the pain was too unpredictable. I thought it might fade, which it did. The catalyst for the pain relief? Caffiene. At mile 21, we stopped at a corner Chevron. KP had a coke, I had a Dr. Pepper. I'm not a soda drinker by any stretch - I don't think I've had more than 2 cans of soda in the past 3 years. But in need of sugar and something non-fruity (I was getting sick of lifesavers and starbursts), I downed about 12 oz of soda.

Magic. Pure magic. My blood sugar rose, bring my pain tolerance and spirits with it. The remainder of the run (still 9 miles to the end!) went much, much better than those middle few.

After the run, I drove back, grabbed some groceries, called home and ate three bowls of cereal. I've been snacking all day, but my appetite waxes and wanes. Tomorrow we have 4 hours of running to do, or about 20 miles. Of those, 8 will be with our Team in Training group down in Marina del Ray. I'm excited to get back our there with the runners! I'm probably going to take it real easy and run with some of the groups I don't usually get to chat with. The other 12 miles we'll get before practice, or I will do on my own after practice. Either way, it's nice to be back in the swing of things!