My Not So Grown Up Life: The Most Epic Run Ever

I'm still on cloud nine from my run yesterday. I've been waiting for this run for a while now, and it finally came in the form of perfection. Let's rewind to Saturday.

I worked my very last shift at the dog daycare, and it was bittersweet to say the least. I'll miss the dogs, some of my coworkers, and doing not much of anything and getting paid. But I will not miss not having a freakin Saturday, my boss being a little on the crazy side, and cleaning up explosive dog diarrhea. Like I said, bittersweet. After work, I went to the Potomac River Running Store. It's local to Northern VA, and they put on a lot of popular races and they have great gear. So of course, I was like a kid in the candy store and bought WAY more than I planned on getting.

Let's put it like this; I went in for a water bottle to run with, and this is what I left with......

The water bottle that holds my phone/fuel and fits to your hand, three different kinds of fuel, GU water tabs things, running socks, and a visor. Hi, my name is Crystal, and I have no self control. It didn't help that I had just gotten paid so I felt like spending $50 was totally ok. NOT OK CRYSTAL.

Sunday morning, I woke up at 5:30 for my run. I refused to deal with bullshit extreme heat again, so early it was. I decided to try the Shotbloks and GU water tabs (you drop a tab in your water and it's a light flavor, a little carbonation, and electrolytes!) for my run to see how I did with it. Mind you, this was my first time EVER running with fuel so I didn't know what to expect. Will it give me wings? Will I feel no pain? Will I breeze through the run like a glitter unicorn?! You shall see.

The run started off pretty good. A little slow, but good. I started on a trail that's super hilly, so my first 2 miles weren't fast. Had to stop and find a potty too, but I made sure to run while I was looking for one, so I was still getting mileage in. After that fiasco, I made it to a new trail I wanted to try around mile 2.30. It was basically the hilly trail, but going in the opposite direction than I usually go. It. Was. Perfect. Barely any hills, cool breeze, and not too sunny since it was only around 7 am. The trails weren't crowded yet, so I just got comfortable and kept it moving. It was so refreshing running through Old Town Alexandria. My mom grew up there, so it was nice seeing places she's talked about, the street she grew up on, and how much the city has changed. Around this time (mile 6), I was still feeling good, and I took the first serving of shot bloks. So delicious. I had the orange flavor, and they pretty much just taste like thicker gummy bears.

It was my goal to run across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge to get a feel for it, since the end of my half marathon crosses that same bridge. I've already run most of the course, so I wanted to try the last part, the bridge, with no pressure. So of course as I'm nearing the bridge I get a wee bit lost, because it's kind of tricky finding the pedestrian trail. Finally found it, after having to turn around 3 times. Woops. By the time I got to the bridge I was at mile 7.32, and I was supposed to turn around to head back at mile 7. So I made the decision to keep going and just end up with a longer run. The bridge was amazingggg to run across. It wasn't steep at all, like a lot of people who've run the half said. The only downside is that it was crazy windy up there, but that's to be expected.

When I got back across the bridge I was almost at 9 miles, and after reading other blogs, I decided to take more shotbloks every 3 miles. So at 9 miles I ate the last 3 and drank some of the water with electrolytes. I don't know if I'm just so used to running with no fuel and no water, but I swear the combo of shotbloks and water made me feel like a new woman. Seriously, I didn't start to feel fatigued until mile 12. That is unreal to me. I felt like I was floating and flying through air. I know I sound like a cheeseball, but I've never had such a pain/fatigue/dead leg free run in my life. I felt amazing throughout the whole thing. I only meant to do 11 according to my plan, but guess what. I ended up doing 13.1. I ran a half marathon. AND I finished it in under my goal time for the actual half. My goal is 2:30 and I finished in 2:25. I finished and sat in my car and just smiled. And teared up a little bit because I couldn't believe I had done it. I ran 13 freakin miles in 2 hours and 25 minutes and I still had energy at the end of it! Usually after my long runs I lay around for the rest of the day contemplating cutting off my legs, but I got home, ran up the stairs and played with Tiger for a while! It's amazing what some shotbloks, nice weather, and a little bit of courage can do for a girl.