WifeMomRunner: Second to Last Long Training Run and Jake's Workout

This picture cracks me up. Jake is "helping" my Dad with his butterfly kicks. He also holds Jake while he does his sit ups and Jake sits on his back while he does his push ups. Some extra resistance for PopPop! :) Jake loves it.

We ran our first 20 mile run Saturday...just one more really long run before we start tapering! I can't believe how fast it has gone. We plan to do 22 miles in 2 weeks.

It was an interesting run. We met at 5 a.m. (which means getting up at 4 a.m....I was so tired...) and it was freezing out! Needless to say we didn't see another runner out there for quite a while. It's confirmed - we are insane. The first 10 miles went really well. We had a decent pace for a long run, chatted about work, and tried to thaw out. We got to Furman around 6.5 miles, took a quick break for a drink and ran through Furman for a little while. We really felt good and thought we had this in the bag! My hands were so cold, though. I was fine everywhere else but my fingers were numb. My shoe was too loose, but I couldn't even tie it because my fingers wouldn't work. Not good. I finally got it tight enough. We parted ways with Justin, ran a couple more miles through Furman and then headed back down the Swamp Rabbit Trail. I started feeling it somewhere around 16-17 miles. Wow...this was really tough! 20 miles is "no joke", as Len would say. I was so glad to have him because I for sure would have stopped. I suggested it, but he said it would be horrible starting back up again...I totally agreed and was glad he pushed me. He kept telling me we could do this. I didn't really believe him (just kidding) but kept on going. I had to finish, and I had to finish with him. We met back up with Justin by our cars and then still had one last brutal mile. It was rough, but we did it and even sort of sprinted near the end. I think we were just so ready to be done! I am a little sore but feel surprisingly well. Training does pay off!

My Uncle is here from Chicago so we were able to visit with him, and Jake was able to get everyone to read to him...over and over and over...