36 days until race day...and up to 17 miles

After manning the door of Gravity last night, trying my best to hydrate between bottles of water and so-called 'carbo-loading' on champagne and pizza at midnight, I ran the longest run of my life to date...17 miles.

We started at the parking lot of Lake Merced, did one 4.5 mile loop, we down Sunset, turned right down MLK into the Park, right on JFK past the De Young and Conservatory of Flowers, turned around and headed back towards the water, left on Great Highway, and a final left onto Sloat before returning to the Lake.

TNT had 7 water stops along the way -- with gummy bears, water, Gatorade, pretzels and Gels to help keep you hydrated and nourished. Thank goodness for them because the support is soooo helpful. They are endlessly encouraging and cheerful. Before the second to last waterstop I thought I might have to run the rest of the distance with my arms raised -- the shirt I was wearing had seams around the arm holes that were starting to chafe the inner under arm -- each swing of the arm causing pain. Thankfully, someone had Body Glide to relieve the rubbing and pain. From here we knew we were in the home stretch. We felt powerful and strong all along the great highway until...we saw another water stop. We thought the 2nd to last one was THE last one and seeing this one, meant the end was further than anticipated. The difference between 1 mile left and 2.2 miles left seemed almost insurmountable. This last leg was by far the biggest mental challenge of the training season...to keep going until the finish.

We did finish. And it was a great feeling of accomplishment. Even better was knowing I had a massage scheduled the following afternoon! Immediately following this run, I headed down to Carmel with Julia and Jamie for a 'girls weekend.'

We hit up the Monterey Sunset Idea House, stayed at the Butterfly Grove Inn and went to the Monterey Plaza Hotel and Spa the following day for a relaxing treatment and day on the outdoor lounge,
complete with 2 Jacuzzis, a steam room and outdoor fireplace atop view of the beautiful Pacific Ocean. If you ever had the opportunity, Lisha, my masseuse was wonderful and the experience awesome enough to go back.