17 miles on the 17th

Spring Break just started for me, and before I leave for the beach tomorrow I decided to get in one of the long runs that I had been unable to run while my stress fracture was healing. So in St. Patrick's Day fashion I ran 17 miles on the 17th. Many of the miles were hills, especially between miles four through ten, and my legs felt really good on them so even with my one month long break from running, my cross-training routine was very effective.

I needed this long run to figure out what nutrition on the run worked for me. (My wonderful boyfriend drove to specific points and had water and gels for me, plus words of encouragement!) I ate about every 5 miles, and drank water more often than that. I had tried clif shot blocks before but this time I tried a different brand of organic energy chews by Honey Stinger and I liked them a lot. Plus I had a bite or two of a more dense Larabar at about 10 miles when I was feeling a little on the hungry side.

My times weren't like I wanted them to be when I started out training, but since the injury I'm pretty happy with them and I don't want to push it with a month left. During spring break I have an awesome opportunity to do some running and conditioning on the beach plus swimming, oh and relaxing...

After break I will have to start on the nitty gritty things like cutting out drinking and keep up a more vegan diet. After break will also be when I start my taper when I'll be running less weekly mileage and run with less intensity. Until then, I hope to have a fantastic, relaxing and safe Spring Break!

Oh I also now have my official team uniform!