Wine Rocks My World After Running 18 Miles.

My schedule called for 18.6 miles this weekend. I gave it the big middle finger and "only" ran 18. That'll fix 'em. 18 flipping miles. I don't care who you are, 18 miles is damn far! For the first time, I experimented with eating while on a run. The idea of popping those gels has never appealed to me so I've always been searching for other options. Imagine my delight when fig newtons kept popping up in various articles. I love me some fig newtons! They are my weakness. I stuffed two in a zip lock baggie and off I went. I pulled the first one out somewhere around mile 14 and took almost a half mile to eat it. Little tiny bites at a time. I was pretty nervous about it though because my stomach has the tendency to....um....overreact quite a bit. I got the first one down fine then waited for about 10 minutes and started on the next one. I honestly have no idea if they helped or not. Was two enough? I finished the 18 without walking and am alive to tell about it so I guess they must have helped a little, right?

One thing I learned about running that far/long. Two glasses of wine with dinner make me giddy quite a bit faster than on a normal night. Awesome.

I took Sunday off then on Monday, I was supposed to run 5 miles. Yup, the middle finger went up again and I went to spinning instead. Then today after strength training, I ran 5. Tomorrow is supposed to be a rest day with Thursday being a 10 miler. Honestly, I'm not trying to make excuses here, but how the heck am I going to fit in a 10-miler in the middle of the week? I will have to jump on the treadmill the second after I put Quinn on the bus for kindergarten then get right back to the bus stop as soon as I finish! I'll figure something out. This weekend is the biggie....the grand finale of long runs....the dreaded 20-miler. ACK! I'm praying for nice weather to help me get through it (Saturday was perfect for my 18).

In foot-related news, the orthotics seem to be helping a bit. I'm still having pain on the top of my right foot though. But here is the interesting thing. After my long run this weekend, I was fully expecting to be attached to the Advil bottle all day Sunday but it really wasn't that bad. Both feet were a bit achy but hey, I made them run 18 miles so what do I expect? But not the major pain in that right one that I was expecting. But then yesterday, I went to spinning and by last night, the top of my right foot was killing me. And when I got out of bed this morning, I had to limp my way around! So. I have a feeling that spinning was the cause of it. I talked to someone who had a similar problem and said it was a nerve or tendon or something.....these runs are messing with my memory....but I just find it so interesting that I am in so much pain after spinning rather than the run. I really don't want to give up spinning so I'm not sure what I'm going to do about it. Do I actually have to invest in official spinning shoes??

Last, I just pulled the most incredible oatmeal raisin cookies out of the oven. If you are a sucker for oatmeal raisin like me, you have to give them a try!! Yum!