Run to Work Day!

For nearly a year - ever since I realized I really could run 15 miles or so - I've wanted to run to work.

But schedule-wise, it's not really practical.

Today, though, we changed that. Yeah, it's Saturday and I didn't have to work, but Danielle had to teach indoor cycling at 9:15 a.m. And we had a 20-miler scheduled...so: Run to Work Day!

And the craziest part was that Wendy, who lives in Seattle, decided to join us. (Look on a map if you're not local: Wendy lives in Seattle. Danielle and I live in Renton. The Pro Sports Club is in Bellevue, but really far north - on the border of Bellevue, Redmond, and Kirkland.)

So at 4:50 a.m., Wendy shows up at my house and we head to Danielle's, 1.4 miles down the road. Danielle had left her car at the Pro Club so this would be a one-way run.

Oh, I forgot to mention: the pouring rain on the skylight in my bathroom woke me at 4:10 a.m. (10 minutes before I wanted to wake up). But that was a good thing, because there was never a question about "Do we do it?" because of the rain - of course we do - I just needed to re-think my clothing strategy. Long pants instead of capris, waterproof jacket instead of semi-waterproof.

At 5:05 a.m., we were off...into the dark, rainy night. It's wrong to call 5:05 a.m. morning when dawn doesn't come until 6:40 a.m. or so.

I had mapped a route that was direct until we were about halfway there, then diverged a few times from the easiest way so we could get the mileage we needed. But unfortunately, the first part of the route included roads with no sidewalk and some with few lights. It was the safest route overall, but frankly, there's no good way to run in the dark from Danielle's house (or mine) to Bellevue.

The good thing was the dark parts were over very quickly, and the one part with no sidewalk and no shoulder afforded us the opportunity to do a quick pick-up and speed over this dark little bridge in a valley - no cars came until we were past it, back on the shoulder. And we didn't see a single soul (except for in cars) for the first hour or so.

During the first hour, I got some weird feeling in my right foot, just where it connects to my leg, but in the front. And another weird feeling in the left shin. They were fairly ignorable, but annoying. Running on my toes helped but felt hard otherwise. So...I didn't say anything and just kept running. The rain stopped after about an hour. Once we got to Factoria, about 8 or 9 miles in, I felt a massive sense of relief. It was getting light out and I knew we'd make it now.

It was a gorgeous morning once the rain stopped and the sun came out - and it did so right as we were climbing a long, long hill - not sure of the mileage, but definitely over a mile long, and steady. Then we had up and down all through Bellevue - it's a fairly hilly city, and the route I'd mapped included roads I'd never even driven, so I was surprised to find more climbing than I expected (or had advertised to the gals). However, New York is not a hilly marathon - the bridges include ascents and descents, but otherwise it's fairly flat, so training on hills will make it seem so easy. Or so I tell myself.

My pains subsided and returned over the course of the 3 hours and 48 minutes that we were out there - this time included potty stops and a stop at a convenience store to buy water when we learned there was a water leak at one of our planned water stops (a park) and the water was all turned off. I ate one GU and two packs of Jelly Bellys on the way and never really felt like I was fading; my heart rate stayed low and I felt happy the entire time (though kind of clammy, which I don't really like).

Arriving at the club - oh, we passed my office building, so I definitely did run to work - was awesome. We could not believe what we did. It's one thing to say, "I ran a marathon" or "I ran x miles" - but to say, "I ran from my house in Renton (and I did - Danielle's house is further, and we passed mine on the way) to work in Redmond" is really, really cool.

We think the route was 20 miles; the car odometer read 19, but we think because of crossing streets and just the way the roads go, we got the 20. I'm definitely counting it as a 20, anyway.

Then Danielle taught indoor cycling; Wendy and I took the class, but didn't do 100% of it. I did most, but at a lower intensity. My legs weren't all that interested in working hard anymore, even though Danielle definitely was and her work, as it always does, inspires me to work.

So now I enter a taper week in preparation for the Black Diamond Half Ironman next weekend - my last tri of the season. Yay! I need the rest!

I do know what I ate today...here goes:

Breakfast: 1 Vitatop and small banana, 160 cals
Fuel: 1 Gu, 2 Jelly Belly packets, 300 cals
Snack: Smoothie, 250 cals
Lunch: Turkey and cheese sandwich, 500 cals
Snack: Carrot cake (yeah, birthday party), 300 cals
total so far: 1510 calories

Exercise:
Run 20 miles
Indoor cycling
2400 calories burned