bustin' out that 10

We all know I had a plan in place for bustin' out my 10 miles while out of town this past weekend.  Let me quickly recap - I was going to run from my hotel to a park located 2.1 miles away.  The park had a 5K course at it, so I was going to run that twice.  Then, I was going to head back to the hotel - the final 2.1 miles - for a grand total of 10.4 miles.

On Friday, I received a text message from one of my cousins that she had heard from one of our aunts that there was a 38 mile course right outside our hotel.  WHAT?!  Surely she meant 3.8 miles, right?!  On Saturday when we arrived, I asked my cousin if she had typo'd that puppy and she said no - there is a 38 mile course that runs from the back of the hotel around the city.  Well...that didn't necessarily sound like it offered up the perks of a park - meaning bathrooms and water fountains, so I decided to stick with my original plan.

I had brought along my breakfast with me from Houston - a multi grain bagel from H.E.B., a packet of Justin's maple almond butter, and a banana.  I took a pack of Clif's Shot Bloks with me in my Spibelt for refueling during my run.  When we arrived in town on Saturday, we stopped at Walgreens to get some drinks, so I bought me a Powerade Zero for when I finished my run to replenish my electrolytes.  I headed out the door at 6:30am with my map of how to get to the park and walked out of the hotel.

Oooops!  I grabbed the wrong map - turns out I grabbed the map to the movie theater and I didn't want to disturb younger sister Linda who was still sound asleep inside our room, so I just decided to try to go off of memory and try to find the park.  About 2 1/2 miles into my run (running around in circles getting lost), I found a jogging/bike path.  Eureka!  I was just hoping this path would lead me to water because I needed it BADLY!  1.75 miles later, I happened across my park - totally accidentally along this path - go figure!  Yay - bathrooms and water!  I then had a decision to make - find the 5K course at this park, or continue on my jogging trail.  I had figured out at this point that I must actually be on the 38 mile path that runs throughout the city.  I decided to stick to my trail and I ran another 1.25 miles past the park before I turned around and headed back.  This meant I hit the water fountain again at mile 6.75.  I drank some water, stretched, and ran back on the path.  Since I knew where I was going this time, I knew it wasn't going to take me as long to get back to the hotel.  I got off the path at mile 8 and started running out of steam.  I knew I was dehydrated and I remembered where that Walgreens was, so I ran to it and went inside and bought me one of those zero calorie rehydration drinks - it had potassium and Vitamin B in it.  I drank all 20 oz. outside before I continued my run back to the hotel.  At this point I was at 8.75 miles.  I started running and got to the hotel and knew I was going to be short my mileage, so I ran around the block, then back to the hotel - running into the lobby and to my room and my Garmin literally turned to the 10 mile mark right as I hit the door to my room.  I then drank the entire 32 oz of my Powerade Zero.  For the rest of the day, I never stopped drinking...it was either water or iced tea until the Wedding and then it became champagne!  ha!

I almost forgot about my blister.  My right pinky toe decided to grow one.  I don't know if it's fair to say my shoe or sock caused it because I had some issues the night before with my heels at the rehearsal dinner and I did Vaseline up my feet before my run.  Oh well...  It was just another obstacle and I conquered it.

10 miles down - ran all of it - no walking breaks.  I stopped twice for bathroom/water breaks and then the Walgreens hydration break.  This Saturday's run is 11 miles and then I have my half on October 24th.  I'm really hoping to run the entire thing with the exception of the water stations.  I'm also hoping to shave 24 minutes off my previous half marathon time.  I'm on target to make that happen!

Next post will be a recap of the Wedding Weekend!