The Good, The Bad, & The Badass

The Good 

Friday, I finished my very first trail run. I'll have to be honest with you, I didn't think that I would enjoy it at all, but I had a blast. I thought it would be the perfect place to test out my country music playlist, ok, it was just a lot of Taylor Swift and some Dixie Chicks (don't judge, I don't care about their politic views, I just liked their music). Anyways, check out the run in pictures.

Love that this is right here in PTC, it was conveniently located on the way home
from my Friday morning Zumba class.  

 Overly dramatic reaction - "Oh my goodness, I can't believe I'm actually going to do this."

Here we go...

Came across this, it was so serene

Trotting along trying not to trip and fall flat on my face. 

One mile down, and I haven't broken anything.

When I saw this, I knew I was almost done.

Who was rocking out to some T-Swizzie and finishing up her
first trail run? This girl! 

The Bad

Last Week's Speedwork - I had a bad workout and I couldn't do the workout as it had been set out for me. I was having trouble keeping the pace and it was an all around mess. I got the miles in but it was not at the assigned speeds.

The Badass

Monday was my very first run over 13.1 miles, I finished 14 miles and I didn't die. That being said, I had a few moments where I thought that I was going to drop, the heat and humidity were killer. K, whom I hadn't run with in a very long time joined me today for the first 11 of the run. I'll be honest with you, it was weird to have someone run with me again, I have been on my own for most of my runs this training cycle that I guess I'd forgotten what it was like to have someone with me. I enjoyed having some company but it also threw me off a little because K talks a lot, and sometimes the conversation wasn't always too motivating. Don't get me wrong, I love to chat during a run but yesterday just didn't feel right with K and the conversation was sometimes a little irritating. OK, I will admit that I was being a little unreasonable about the conversation thing, but this was after all an important run for me and I wanted it to be just right. Plus, I was in a bit of a mood when we started, so just add something else to the stink pile.

The weather during the run was pretty miserable, it was hot and humid, but I kept trying to remind myself that it will eventually cool down and not all my long runs are going to be this hot and sticky. I was sweating like a pig, and smelled like a garbage can after the first 3 miles, I still had 11 more to go, and I can only imagine the scent that the people we passed got to experience. As the run went on, I just got stinkier and sweatier. Oh yeah, and guess what I had again... CHAFING. I rushed through the chafe cream application and I learned a hard lesson about it. I will never again rush through the application process...OUCH. Also, I think it's time for different shorts, by the end of yesterday's run, they were irritating me. So, during the run I also had the hanging skin on my arm irritate and slap me a few times, it was like my own personal portable cheering section. Then, there were the knees and hips, they were definitely talking to me a few times during the run. Alright, let's cut to the chase, everything and everyone was irritating me, I was a crabby bitch.

Speaking of crabby, I may have blurted out some less than stellar things like....
- This is so stupid, why am I doing this?
- I hate running
- Why the f- did I sign up for a stupid effing marathon?
- Why is it so f-ing hot?
- This is the stupidest thing I've ever done.

Obviously, it was the heat and general irritation talking because 14 miles is pretty bad ass even if it wasn't pretty to get it done. I did have to walk a little more than I would have liked but I covered the miles and that's still pretty bad ass. You know what else is bad ass? ICE BATHS! I did the whole ice bath thing after the run, and it was an experience like none other. I set the timer, put on a sweater and plopped myself in the tub. Oh buddy, it was something else, but I think it was worth the discomfort.