Sweaty Six

I ran my first six miles EVER five months ago while training for the Princess Half.  It was snowy and freezing out that day and I was stuck inside on the treadmill.  I remember that it was really tough to make it through the end of the run, and afterwards thinking, "MAN!  How am I EVER going to run more than DOUBLE that?!"  The next week I ran my second EVER six mile run.  This time, it was December 26th, and let's just say I was not in the best shape after an extremely *festive* Christmas celebration the day before with my family which had been filled with beer, baileys, and general debauchery.  During THAT six miles on the treadmill I spent the entire time staring at the trashcan located about 10 feet away from me and repeating "you are NOT going to throw up" over and over in my head.  That was a fun one.

Today's six miler (the first in my training cycle for the Rock 'n' Roll Half) did not include snow or near-vomiting.  THANK GOODNESS.  It also didn't involve *fear* because this time the distance is not scary to me.  :)  Been there, done that!!  That being said, my first run of the year in 80 degree heat was a bit of a challenge.  Like a good little runner, I went to bed early-ish last night after putting on my running clothes (obv) and laying out all of my things...

...including the new pair of Brooks Ghost running shoes I bought yesterday!  My Nike Vomeros still have about 200 miles left in 'em, but I've been wanting to try a new pair that's a little lighter.  Mrs. Mentor Teacher moonlights as a fabulously knowledgeable salesperson at her local running store, so I trekked out there yesterday with my mom and tried a bunch of shoes before settling on these Brooks.

This morning the fabulous Girls on the Run Coach Melinda was running in her second ever 8K race, so I dedicated my run to her. :)  It was a gorgeous sunny day, but a little warmer than I expected, and leaving my water/gatorade in the car was a mistake.  I definitely wish I had brought my hand-held water bottle, because by the time I passed my car after 4 miles I was parched!  I took a quick break and GULPED down water/gatorade and saw that I had a text from Coach Melinda that she had PRed in her race!  YAY!  

Coach Melinda shares my affinity for compression gear and the color pink.
How amazingly vibrant are her sleeves?!

After my quick break, I set out on my last two miles feeling MUCH more hydrated, but still exhausted.  Let me tell ya, they were pretty tough, but it definitely could have been worse.  I finished strong (albeit tired and mega dehydrated...), having kept a solid pace throughout the run.  I LOVE the Brooks shoes--they felt great!

What I Learned: It's better to bring too much water than not enough!  I definitely was wishing I had another entire bottle of water for after my run, not to mention the fact that I could have used my hand-held bottle throughout...It is now officially WARM OUT, and (duh) I need to be bringing water on long runs.  Period.

PS: A big hug and shout out to Coach Lauren who had a rough race this weekend but is still a superstar (cue sparkle fingers)