49 Days: 16 Mile Run

I was nervous going into this morning's run. Last week I struggled with 14 to the point of questioning what I was doing. Fortunately today went quite well. I think that two factors went into today's success:

1. The weather - it was at least 20 degrees cooler this morning than last week
2. My Friday's Diet - I intentionally ate more carbohydrates throughout the day on Friday prepping my body for today's run.

We ran on the Gateway Trail starting under 694 in North St. Paul, running past Manning Ave. towards Stillwater then turning around to the finish. It was a beautiful trail. The rain began with 3 miles remaining - but we kept on running.

For the majority of the run we did 5 and 1 (run 5 minutes, walk 1 minute). This method really helps the body adjust to the long distance. I ran with the same 5 people I have been with for the majority of my long runs. We are all members of Salubrious, a non-profit running group lead by a friend of mine from the YMCA. This group has been a life saver for me, there is no way I could have done this on my own!

I took a nap for most of the afternoon to rest my body. My left glut/hip is bothering me again today. The muscle tightens up so much that any pressure is quite painful. I'm debating about getting it "looked at" but then I think this is just normal muscle pain after running long distances.