The Longest Yet

I was mad stressing about how I was going to get my long run in this weekend with everything else I had planned. The answer was to simply get my butt up early on Saturday and run a monster loop passing through Avon, Westlake, Bay Village and Avon Lake. GMaps Pedometer calculated the total distance to be 22.5 miles, which I was happy with. The first 5 miles passed by some of the most gorgeous houses on the west side of Cleveland. Shortly after, I passed by two youth soccer games and a goal was scored on each field as I passed by! Seven miles were on Lake Road, offering up more stunning houses and a view of the lake from time to time. The water was so still this morning that all I could think of was heading home to get my wetsuit and jumping in for a swim. I shed my arm warmers with 3 miles to go because it was really starting to heat up. I could start to feel a slight burn in my legs and tightness in my hamstrings at mile 21. It was at this point that I picked up the pace all the way to the finish. 2:43:49 was my total time (7:17/mile). Along the way I took down two PowerGels and 24 ounces of VitaminWater, which is comprable to Gatorade (a little tastier I might add). My friend Frank brought me 3 cases of the VitaminWater to trial with my TNT group. I figured I'd try it first before offering it to them. On a scale from 1-10, I'd give todays run a 9 (some company would have made it a 10!). It was one of those runs that makes it all worthwhile!