An Eyebrow Stealing Long Run

(I really do listen to what you guys are suggestion/mentioning...I am working on eating more while running...baby steps. Working up to pbj's and boiled potatoes. Considering I dont' like to eat anything other than Sportsbeans during long runs, the below picture looks like a Sizzler Buffet to me)

Yesterdays long run made me even more grateful for the amazing run we had on Monday. If every long run went like yesterdays, we never would have gotten to marathon #1!!
We had 16 on the sched, setting us up perfectly for next weekends 18 at Steep Ravine. We were in a waiting game w/the weather, but we were supposed to have an opening of a few hours, so after the rain seemed to have let up, we were on the trail running at 10:30, a.m. I finished running at 7:30...9 hrs later.

It went a like this...running, running....running straight into heavy wind, running in rain, getting cold, no wind, getting hot, running into wind again. Executive decision made to change our route from loop plus 2 really exposed out and back sections to the loop twice. It's more sheltered as its lined w/trees and in a circle so you aren't running straight into the wind the whole time.

This meant that at the half way point we would be passing the car...never a good thing. I suggested we veer off onto a trail just short of the car that would go to a rock maze hidden at the bottom of a crater, let the kids look around for a minute, and then head back out, doing the loop in reverse. This would avoid making visual contact w/the car, give the kids a break half way, and be a nice treat.Maybe 50 ft into the trail we had a situation. Not much you can do to keep pushing when the tires will no longer turn. I love mud.....but this had me so frustrated!! We had to carry the bikes back to the paved trail, go back and carry the jogger out, too. We spent a lot of time trying to scrape the mud off, but Diablo mud really is "Diablo" like in nature. It just wasn't working. I sent the kids down the trail and down the street to their first grade teachers house to ask if we could use their hose. She wasn't home, so her husband opens the door to find 3 muddy kids asking to use his hose. Thankfully he said yes and we got everything down the street to the teachers house and sprayed everything down.

So now we are all wet, and it's windy again, and it's raining...again. And I know the car is just around the corner just out of site. Brian tried hard to fight the pull of the car. We got back on the trail and he pointed the jogger in the right direction, back the 8 miles we had just came. He told the kids they were facing the wrong way, "we're heading this way, lets go, turn your bikes around". Keep in mind we were at an hour and 30 when we got to the mud. Now were almost 2:30 into this thing and have another hour 30 to go. So while they were pointed towards 8 miles, I headed out the opposite direction, towards the car : )

I'm saving all my crazy for Diablo in April. I love to be all hard core, run in the cold and rain, lather up in mud....I love it. But I have to be smart in how we go about training for this thing. No sense getting sick and being a glutton for punishment now. I am looking at it as a few months of hard work and smart decisions to get to the starting line, having earned the right to spend one glorious 10 hour day cold, running in the rain, rolling in the mud, and skipping through the creeks, stopping at random forest buffets along the way.

So, we came home, and the day went on w/Bubba down at the school again, trying to learn to ride his bike....he is the biggest chicken liver ever. He has the balancing down, but jumps off the bike after a few seconds on his own.

At 6 I got on the treadmill and ran...and ran....and ran...after about 45 minutes I didnt' hate it as much. That timing probably lined up w/Run DMC's Walk This Way on the ipod. Even hating it, it was better than the mornings run!! There is something wonderfully gross about running inside a warm house and sweating buckets. My sweat towel apparently has an eyebrow obsession as it stole mine right off my face. After 1:30 I was done, 16 miles for the day....not the way I have planned or wanted, but done non the less.