Christmas Eve

I rested all week to give my body a chance to be ready for the 17 miles last Friday.  I'm glad I did because it was brutal.  Dave ran with me, but Dan couldn't because he was in Wyoming for Christmas.  We ran about 6 miles before we got to Dave's truck and got a quick drink then had sustenance lined up every two miles or so after that.  We learned something pretty interesting about creatine during our run...It is bad to take it before a long run.  Dave's fingers and forearms swelled up like crazy as a result and it made him cramp up really bad.  Lesson learned.

Even though the weather was warm (40 degrees), the cold wind made it feel like another sub-freezing run. I didn't dress quite as warm as usual, meaning I didn't wear a mid-layer and I was still plenty comfortable, but any time we stopped to drink the cold would hurt for a while.  I'm sure we stopped for too long anyway, but the cold makes it that much worse.  Race day might get up into the 60's, so the cold won't be a problem then.

For the first time, 26 miles seemed doable.  I was dog tired after 17, but I think with a few more weeks, I'll be ready for 9 more.  However, 5 hours is starting to seem like a tough mark to hit.

We were already a little late for Christmas Eve dinner at the Peterson's, so I didn't have time to take an ice bath.  My knees and ankles felt the effects of that all day Saturday and Sunday.  When school starts up again next week, it will be really hard to do the long runs after school on Saturdays.  I'm glad the race is almost here.