8 Mile, not quite like B-Rabbit

Mission accomplished, 8 miles down on a cloudy, muggy Saturday morning. Our training group met just south of Lake Harriet and we ran along Minnehaha Creek toward Lake Nokomis. Four miles out and four miles back. There were a lot of other groups out running as well and I can't say enough about being in a group for training. Everyone in our group is really nice and supportive. They all have either done this before and offer great tips or are doing this as their first marathon, so you have others to go through the ropes with.

I ran today sans the iPod and it was tough. Usually when the body is telling the head that it sucks, I can flip to a Metallica song or Eminem and lose myself in it. My brain then ignores the body and I keep chugging along. Not today, no iPod, no Metallica, and it went better than expected. I was able to chat with another guy in our class for a good portion of the run and that made the time move quicker. I am sure I did most of the talking and I am sure nothing intelligent came out, but hey, it made my run more enjoyable!

Kelly is on a boondoggle to Chicago with the girls but I got the report this morning that she woke up and ran on the tread mill. That takes dedication to get up and run on a girls' weekend vacation. That puts the pressure on me this week while I am in California for work to get some runs in. Damn her.

A couple things I learned today.
1) Drink a lot of water the day before long training runs, it really helped.
2) I guess you need to learn to like the carbo-loaded gels and eat them every 4 miles.
3) Carbo-loaded gels are disgusting. Not only did it taste horrible, the consistency is that of cake frosting. Baby food has to taste better.