18K is A-OK, Hip-hip-HOORAY!

Well, I know my last post was about being terrified, and we still don't have costumes figured out (essential!), but we've had two great long runs in a row. Friday we were supposed to run 16.5K and met at work at 530 to head out in (accidentally) matching outfits. We ran from work to Hooters (heh!) over to 16th Ave and Deerfoot and then back to the office. It was a glorious morning where the temperature was just right, the air felt fresh and the sky was shining. We had our Gatorade and our GU just at the right time. As we headed back up the service road, I suggested we cut back across the temporary running path and then loop back.  See, last week we ended up being a bit short and had to retrace a bit to get our 15K in, which feels a bit sad to be so close to the finish and then realize you're not quite done...

No problem, we cut back to the running path while fighting off a mosquito parade and head back. As we head to the 4 way stop, Princess Chris pulls out her iphone to check our time and our distance---turns out I had forgot to hit start on mine, so we hadn't been checking our distance or pace at all during our run...good thing there was a backup!

She punches me in the arm and shrieks.

With excitement!

Turns out, we had accidentally shot past the 16.5K we were aiming for and had already passed 17.5K in the same amount of time. Figuring we had nothing to lose at this point, we kept running for another few minutes to make it an even 18K in just a smidge over 2 hours. So, not only did we run too far, but we had done it much faster than expected. And felt great about it!

In short, we arrived at our desks Friday morning shrieky with excitement and incredibly proud of ourselves.  Anytime we saw each other throughout the day we highfived and shrieked. Saturday rolls around and I'm only a teensy bit sore.  Short story long...I'm suddenly feeling a lot more confident about this race now!!