Sunday run and food.

Saturday was a blur as I wasn’t feeling great. I ran, went to groceries with the girls, took a nap at 11:30am, got eye lash extensions (OMG!), and watched 1.5 hrs of Killer of Flower Moon, while worrying a bit about my long run the next day.

Sunday, on the other hand, was fantastic from start to end!!! I loved my run!!! See detailed recap below. And that Sofia joined me for the cool down, almost 3 miles, without complain and annoying face!

by the way, I find pic very deceiving. I was exhausted by then but it didn’t show in the pic. We got sugar cane juice, so refreshing. Look this man making it on the spot for us.

I finished shower, breakfast, time tracking, and it was almost time to get ready for lunch. I took a pic of our look. I didn’t wear any make up except lipsticks, and the eye lashes made me look like I’ve done make up. MAGIC right? The funny thing was Lizzy kept telling me I still have mascara. hahaha… And Sofia looks like a teenager for sure.

she’s getting taller and lady like.

I felt like having avocado toast and when it came, it was so big that I had zero appetite by then. Isn’t it weird that after the long run my appetite is taking a break?

girls shared chicken quesadilla, grilled cheese sandwich, and cheese puff. Too much food as the serving size was really big. We packed up and went for a walk to digest.

I went to manicure after that, got chinese red this time, and got 90 min massage. Girls played by themselves at home, either reading or doing things while recording time lapse. I finished the movie before going to bed. I don’t know how I feel about it yet. Good acting for sure, sad story?

Husband went to pick up my mom and mother in law. We are in full house now!!!

Recap of the 18 miles run

The plan: 5 miles warm up, 4 miles marathon pace effort, 5 min easy, 5 miles MP, 4-5 miles cool down.

This is a tough workout because half of the run is at MP pace. I don’t know what my MP should be, I guess somewhere between 8:45-9:05 based on latest races. I didn’t want to get obsessed with the pace so went with perceived exertion than pace.

Miles 1-5: I started easy, didn’t check the watch until it was about to start the MP segment.

Mile 6: it is hard because MP is substantially faster than easy pace but I didn’t want to go out too fast either. I usually run for 5 min or so to find the effort level 7-8 and check the pace, whether I’m too fast or too slow. If it’s too fast, I’d slowdown a bit, if too slow, I’ll pick it up slightly and see how I feel the next 5 min. This first mile of the workout is one of the hardest mile as doubt creeps in.

Miles 7-9 were good. Not cruising but sustained effort and feeling RPE settling to 7.5.

5 min easy jog felt good.

Miles 10-11, hard, not physically but mentally. The same feeling I had when running Chicago last year came back. The doubt I had on myself whether I can sustain this pace for another 5 miles. Inspired by Sally, I told myself to CHOOSE STRONG, focus on this mile, one step at the time. Then when I passed mile 11, I realized that was my fastest mile so far. That gave me a boost of confidence that I could “fight” my mental barrier.

Mile 12-14 were a blur. I knew finishing line (to the MP segment) is near. My legs were fine. My arm and shoulder were getting tired and sore as I was pushing them hard to keep the pace. I focused on the runners in front of me, passing them one by one. Tuning to black pink.

Mile 15, I could feel my pain, I told myself it’s almost there, no need to speed up, just hold the pace, 8:51 min/mile, for a little more. And then I was done and relieved.

I walked for 1-2 min. The security guard that saw me probably thought I was crazy as I was a sweat mess and clearly exhausted, but with euphoria of finishing this workout strong, overcoming my own mental barrier.

I jogged back to home to pick up Sofia for the last 3 miles cool down. Those miles felt cruising, so freeing and soothing. Sofia was keeping up a good pace as well so it made me very happy.

When we finished, I realized that my legs were toasted. hahahah… I didn’t notice they were working hard until I finished. I walked like as if I finished the marathon.

Fueling strategy seems to be working as I felt fine by 11am. No headache, no heavy breathing, just tired legs and felt full of energy for the rest of the day.

I really enjoyed this run because I conquered my own fear, worked hard to overcome it and proved myself that I can beat the self doubt. I just need to practice more to gain confidence when doubt creeps in. Those mental battles can only be fought deep into the pain stage. There’s no other way to really practice that unless I get there. That seems what many runners chase, the dark mental space to see how strong we can be.

How was your weekend? Have you tried eye lash extension? If you are a runner, what do you like the most about running?