20 times two...

Yesterday, I did my first of two 20-milers in preparation for Disney--unfortunately, it was also about 20 degrees out, hence the "20 times two" title. A few things about yesterday still seem a bit surreal to me, namely the following:

1. I ran 20 miles voluntarily and with only one pitstop (a gas station at mile 17 to address the call of nature).
2. I took a half day of vacation to run said 20-mile run.
3. I took said half day of vacation to run said 20-mile run in weather conditions that I can only adequately describe as butt-ass cold (sorry Mom and Vardomom, but that's the truth).

I ran with Michele (who left for vacation this morning--hence the Friday run instead of a more traditional weekend run)--once again I'll say thank God I had someone to run with. 20 miles is a long way to run by oneself, especially at my pace--it took us about 3 hours and 15 minutes to do, which would've been a very long time to be left alone with my thoughts. As it was, Michele and I talked about darn near everything under the sun, from performance reviews at work (I had mine yesterday morning) to Weight Watchers to how to survive long runs. That last conversation topic was actually quite insightful--basically, she said the last couple miles will hurt and be tough (and they were, for the record), but that it's a mental game to get through. It was good to hear that from her--she's a very good (and experienced) athlete, and it was actually a little comforting to know that the soreness and general tired feeling was not solely a product of this being my first training experience, but apparently something most people go through (and I confirmed that with Vardo today, too). All told, I'm glad it's over, but I'm also glad we have another 20-miler in a couple of weeks--I think that will help me go into Disney with a fair amount of confidence that I can finish and have a decent race.

I was tired, though, to be clear...when we got back to their house, I plopped down on the floor to stretch and was not all that keen on getting back up. Also, because of the weather, I had on 5 layers of shirts/jackets and three of shorts/tights/pants, so it took about 20 minutes of unpeeling the layers before I could even attempt a shower. Once clean, I plopped down on their kitchen floor again and played with the puppies while Sue graciously made dinner--I was fine until she handed me a glass of wine and then attempted to get up after drinking the wine, and then negotiating the stairs was a bit dicey as well as my legs were basically shot. After dinner, we watched "Tommy Boy"--my all time favorite movie...sadly, though, all three of us were asleep by the time the movie ended--guess we were tired. But, it was a fairly relaxing way to spend the evening, and by the time all was said and done, I was tired, but doing OK.

This morning, I popped some ibuprofen and was moving slowly, but pain-free--just fatigued. I crashed on my couch for about 1 1/2 hours this afternoon while watching Texas clobber Colorado in the Big 12 championship game, then went to see the movie version of "Rent" (one of my favorite musicals). I'm still tired, so will likely turn in early tonight--have a 5-miler to run tomorrow, which, at this rate, will be through ~3-4 inches of snow, and a swim clinic tomorrow morning. No rest for the wicked, I guess (or at least no more than one day of rest)...