As expected, I didn’t sleep all that much.  A couple of hours, on and off.  The alarm clock went off at 6, a little later than usual for my long runs, because my plan was to run 6 miles first and then meet Jana and Wanda at the Ferry Building at 9am.  I was already out of bed when the alarm clock went off, and so I went up to roust S.  Much to my surprise, he got up on the first try (that has never happened before!) and was ready to go.

He loaded the bike in the car, and I got in.  And then… he surprised me by pulling out my camera and starting to take pictures!!!  Isn’t he the best?  He thought ahead better than I did, and helped me to document my 20-miler for the blog!

Exhibit A – me sitting in the car while he gets the bike loaded:

Exhibit B:  Me sticking my tongue out at S taking a picture of the front of the car:

Breakfast on the way to SF was a Pure Protein bar:

When we arrived at SF, the sky was completely clear – not a single cloud – and it was already getting hot.  I was a little worried; usually the reason I like to do my long runs in SF is because it is foggy and overcast and cool.  While it has been almost 100 degrees where I live, near San Jose, it is always cool in SF.  Except for the day I have to do my 20-mile run, of course.    I complained a little bit, grabbed my visor (which I almost didn’t bring but was soooo glad I did…) and we were off.  S documented it for posterity

Here are our feet before we started

Yep, he got all angles.

The first six miles were pretty tough, I wasn’t feeling all that great, and I started to get really worried about the rest.

Also, there were sooo many things going on in San Francisco today.  First of all, there was Race for the Cure so there were people everywhere for that.  Then there was a free concert in Golden Gate park that they have every year.  Then there were about a zillion walks for some school, and there was a Giants game at AT&T Park… so a lot of the run was dodging the masses.

At 9, I met Jana and Wanda.  It was so great to see them!  We talked and then started running.

It was still soo hot and tough, but running with them made the time go by sooo fast.  Wanda is recovering from Runner’s Knee, so she did 11 miles (which was already a huge leap up from her previous long run of 7 miles… that girl is INCREDIBLE!)  Then Jana and I continued to finish the last three miles, bringing my total to 20!

Here’s the garmin from my run.

My total time was 3:14, and my average pace was 9:39 minute miles.  Not as fast as I want, but I’m definitely not complaining due to the large amount of people we were dodging, the sun and the heat, and our occasional stops to stretch Wanda’s leg.

So now I’m pretty much ready for the marathon!  I might try to do another 20 miler (or 22 miler) next weekend, but I’m not sure that’s going to happen because I have a project deployment for work next Saturday night and will likely be up all night working.  So maybe Saturday, we’ll see.  But if I don’t, I’m ok – most people don’t do more than a 20 miler training run for a marathon and they are fine.

Here’s a pic of Jana and I when we were all done (Wanda had already left and I didn’t get a chance to snap a picture with her there.  Boo!  Oh well, next time…)

I have to admit, I am so happy and proud of myself.  It feels so good just to be able to run 20 miles – slow doesn’t even matter.  I am so blessed!

On the drive home from my run, I had an apple, a clif bar, and a luna bar:

Then it was time for…. FOOTBALL!  Although it was a very disappointing day of football for me.  The Steelers lost in the second half, for the second week in a row.  To the flippin Bengals!!!

And even the 49ers, who I have been rooting for, lost.  Boo.

It’s ok, though.  Better to lose and learn now at the beginning of the season and then kick ass to get to, and then win, the Superbowl.   And we must keep in mind that Polamalu wasn’t playing.  He was at my house, giving me a long, relaxing massage after my 20-mile run

Some eats during the football games – my last monster peach and some mixed veggies with a boatload of hummus:

I snacked on some yogurt berry rice cakes – yup, right out of the bag, baby.

They actually weren’t that good – I picked them up at Safeway because I thought the yogurt part made them sound interesting and they were on sale.  Won’t be getting those again.

After football disappointment, we moved another carload of stuff from S’ apartment to my house.  It’s just the smaller, cluttery things now… which is of course making me crazy because my house is FILLED with STUFF.  And we just keep bring more over, and there is no where to put it.  I’m going to have a meltdown this week, I know it.

Dinner was a Sandwich Thin with Barney Butter and banana on one half, boysenberry preserves on the other half, and a Tomato Basil Gardenburger:

S was still on his picture kick, so wanted me to take a picture of his Mountain Dew Code Red for the blog.  He’s obsessed with that stuff, drinks it like it’s going out of style.  So, for your viewing pleasure:

For dessert, I made a banana split with vanilla ice cream, banana, hot fudge, and a crumbled Kashi crunchy granola bar:

And I had a second dessert, too.  I ran 20 miles today, I can have two desserts!

I topped off my night with some candy corn:

I am completely and utterly wiped out and can’t wait to get into my bed.  This has been a really great weekend – I hope it was great for everybody else too!!

G’night, ya’ll.