Bring on the holiday!

I have labored. And I would like a holiday. It turns out, my 20 mile run timed out well because I'm getting my wish.

Many of the RBF are such running pros they could probably run 20 miles in their sleep. But for those of us novices, 20 miles is a big deal. A BIG DEAL.

I started off slow. That was hard to do because I was getting passed by other runners left and right. And they didn't LOOK like they were going all that fast, but I guess I was just really slow. The first six miles were rough. I didn't have my groove on just yet. I sort of felt like I was stumbling along. But I hit mile 8 and suddenly I felt like I could conquer the world. I picked up the pace a bit between miles 10-13. Then I stopped for a potty break/water refill.

Around mile 17 I started to feel queesy. It never went away. I really have no idea what it was about so if anyone has any advice/feedback, I would really appriciate it. I had to walk a little around mile 18. (Note: I walked periodically throughout the run to take in water, gu and to rest my foot when it hurt, but felt that I kept a pretty constant run, surprising myself a little)

I MADE myself run the last mile. It was hard. Really hard. I wanted to barf, but I wanted to run, and I wanted to barf, and I wanted to run. (and so on...)

And then, it was over. And I have to admit that I got a little choked up. I'm such a GIRL. Total time according to cell phone: 4 hours and 24 minutes.

A few notes about music. The following songs are awesome running songs in my book:
The Beastie Boys: Sure Shot
Eminem: Lose Yourself
Outkast: Hey Ya (And Yes, I had to shake it like a polaroid picture, even at mile 16!)
Blue Merle: Burning in the Sun
Destiny's Child: Survivor and Jumpin' Jumpin'
Mya: Takin' Over Me

Of course, I had 4 hours of songs on my IPod, but those were just a few I wanted to share.

Tonight, my dear friend, Jay has offered up her hot tub for me to relax in and she's cooking dinner for Matt and me. Aren't holidays and friends and weekends lovely?