12 Miles...Did I Survive?

This weekend was a bit of a whirlwind!  Hubster was out of town running the SoCal Ragnar Relay, so I had the house to myself.  This meant it was time for a girls weekend!  I texted Running Roommate on Thursday and asked her if she would accompany me to the finish line of the Salt Lake City Marathon so I could watch some of my coworkers cross the finish line.  The SLC Marathon is quite a large event and there were a ton of spectators at the finish line cheering everyone on.  I missed a few of my coworkers crossing the finish line, but did manage to see the two cross that I was really there for.  The race mentality was infectious and it got me super excited to run my half marathon in two weeks.  I'm glad it is a smaller half marathon though, because the crowds were a bit overwhelming!

This is the winner (on the left) of the Salt Lake City Marathon--SO fast!

This is my coworker after finishing his first half marathon.  Pure joy on that face!

It was inspiring to see so many people I knew pushing through pain and finishing up strong.  All my coworkers finished the race in under 2 hours, and one of them even finished with a time of 1:18!!  Crazy!  I will not be that fast at my half marathon, and that is totally okay with me.

After we left the race, Running Roommate and I went for a 12 mile run.  I've been SO nervous for this run all week.  I am very thankful that RR was willing to join me and help me out with my long distance runs.  The weather was perfect--60 degrees and sunny.  Unfortunately, the weather started out with clouds and rain so we hadn't put on sunscreen so when the clouds parted 30 minutes after we started our run we had no hope of not getting sunburned.  Oops--lesson learned!  It didn't affect our run, though.  We stayed on pace pretty much the entire time.  I learned a few important lessons this weekend about how to have a successful long run:

• Fuel, Fuel, Fuel:  We brought Gu and stopped every 4 miles to refuel.  This kept our energy up and gave our muscles something to burn.
• Water, Water, Water: I really need to buy some extra bottles to attach to my Nathan belt.  I am always short on fluid during my long runs and it's getting to be a problem.
• Pace, Pace, Pace:  Memo to self: do not try to run the long runs at the same pace you do your short runs.  It's not going to happen for you.  I ran my 10k last week at a 10:30 pace, but we did this run at a nice and steady 11:20ish pace and it made all the difference in the world.  

Here's a quick look at my run:

This run was exactly what I needed.  I finished the running knowing that I was capable of adding a mile to it and running a half marathon in a couple weeks.  I also gained some important knowledge that I will need for the rest of my long runs while I train for my full marathon.  It's a beautiful thing!