Physically painful, mentally acceptable

The weather could not have been more perfect for my 20mile run. The sun is starting to rise later now, so instead of it being light by the time we started running, it was still dark for half an hour. Sarah and I found that this made it difficult to run. Especially since it had rained the night before and the path was covered in debris.

The first out and back, which was supposed to be 10 miles except because of poor directions we got lost and it was more like 10 1/2 miles, took us just a couple of minutes over 2 hours. On the second out and back, Sarah and I were already feeling sore and we were getting worried it was going to be a problem. Fortunately, my mental state was in a really good place, so even though Sarah was struggling a little I helped her get through it. We started bio-freezing our knees, and I also did my hips, and that helped a lot. The last 2 1/2 miles I slowed down a beat and Sarah picked up the pace a beat so we ran separately.

The thing I love most about running with Sarah is that conversation is really easy, but silence is also really easy. With some people conversation is easy but silence is awkward, but some of my best times running with Sarah is when we are both in our groove and just running next to each other. It is its own conversation. I also like that Sarah is comfortable pulling ahead at the end. Sometimes it is hard to pull away from a partner because you feel like you are letting them down, but in our case it works because neither of us feel like we are holding the other back. Sometimes I wish I could pick up the pace like she does, but I run the whole thing and finish, and that's what really matters.

I hobbled home and future hubby helped me into an ice-bath. The ice melted within the first 10 minutes, but I sat in there doing a crossword puzzle and drinking chocolate milk until my 20 minutes was up. It was a good ice-bath. Cold enough that it was uncomfortable getting in, but not so cold I was worried about frostbite.

Sarah and I boot-blocked today and we did really well!! We each made $145 in 2 hours! I am almost to my goal so that is really exciting. If anyone reading this blog knows a company that is willing to match donations or do a sponsorship, please let me know. Sarah is on the lookout for one and if anyone can help it would be appreciated. Thanks for all the support!