Peanut Butter and B Cups

Sleepy Friday...today seems like one of those days that I could just hunker down in my bed and sleep until 10:00 AM.  I swear I wouldn't budge, even if I heard Cameron milling around the apartment looking for something to chew and destroy.  I don't know if it's the gray weather or the fact that I coughed throughout the night (my voice finally sounds almost normal though), but I am exhausted!

As you already know, Fridays are my day off.  Thank you Hal Higdon for rest days!  I'm still a little sore from my eight miles earlier in the week, and I need to do some stretching and hydrating before I do my 15 mile long run this weekend.  I emphasize the long part of that sentence because once you get past half marathon distance, any run seems long.  But it's not just the length that makes it difficult.

I can run a half marathon carrying very little with me (keys and identification) and without making pit stops, but once I get past that distance, there are significantly more variables.  For example:

1.  I definitely have to wear my Power Belt to carry water with me, which makes me look like a total dork.
2.  I start running out of gas and need energy (Gu gels are great - really any Gu products, Sport Beans or jelly beans, gummy bears - I even met a girl that ran with a peanut butter sandwich in her bra)...I never said runners weren't strange.
3.  Pain...I usually pop an aspirin at mile 9.  I medicate at miles 9 and 18 for 26.2 miles.
4.  Weather.  I actually have to check the forecast - I've been caught by more than a few storms hours into a run.
5.  Potty breaks.

If you're not a distance runner, then I'm sure you never thought so much planning went into running.  Seriously, there's a science to it.  And the variables I mentioned above are a short list - layering clothes comes into play, traffic patterns (Georgetown on a Saturday after 10:30 AM is never a good idea), spring festivals (I've encountered bike races and farmer's markets), even yard sales and church barbeques can through monkey wrenches into running routes.

Oh well, I've gabbed enough.  I'm looking forward to a low-key Friday night with Lost Dog take-out and maybe a bubble bath.

Happy running!