Yesterday morning at 8:04 am I started on a run. And not just any run, a long run. And not just any long run, a 20-mile long run. So, with my Gatorade-filled hand held bottle in hand, off I went…and two hours fifty minutes later, my face was covered in salty sweat and my legs were achy.

But I felt great.

This run was very encouraging, and despite the fact that I had to wake-up early on a Sunday and spend nearly three hours running, I really enjoyed it the whole time. The route, which was somewhat tricky to orchestrate, had a couple of out-and-backs which got a little tedious. Overall, though, it was scenic and pleasant as ever. There were also two golden doodles spotted on the route, and I have made the executive decision that I will own one of these fluffy bundles of love at some point in my life.

These big kahuna runs take ample prep work, both on the front end and back end, and I’m happy to say I would call it an overall success. (Prep work, also see: Eating half a loaf of bread.) I averaged 8:20 miles very comfortably, and although I started to feel it around mile 14 or so my legs are feeling pretty decent today. Planning on a 5-6 mile recovery trot this afternoon.

I was completely ZONKED last night though, and it took approximately 2 minutes for me to go from awake to a deep sleep once I hit the my pillow. I love that feeling though of running completely wiping me out, it’s kind of neat to see direct effects of hard work.

 

In other news, I witnessed a murder yesterday. A murder on the high seas, to be exact. And while I do have this hope that someday I will be at a crime scene that Dexter appears at to do a blood splatter analysis, this crime scene was definitely still cool.

While rounding the corner of the peninsula circa mile 10 or so, I saw a scuffle of seagulls in the water. They were all losing their seagull minds, and as I looked closer I saw a huge tail flop out of the water among the swarm of birds. Obviously I was going to watch at this point, and I’m glad I did. All of a sudden a HUGE sea lion head popped out of the water with a wing hanging out of it’s mouth! It was nuts…I didn’t even know that sea lions were interested in eating seagulls (don’t you think they’d be all gamey and tough?) but this beast was out for the kill. I think all the other seagulls were trying to rescue their victim friend. Alas,’twas too late.

 

Moving on.

Some BIG NEWS.

You guys, I can’t even begin to describe my excitement for what I’m about to tell you. I’ll give you a hint, it looks a little something like this:

So, I am proud to announce that on Labor Day weekend this year, I will be running 13.1 miles through the magical world of DISNEYLAND!! Yes, indeed, I forked over more of my paycheck for this dream-come-true event which could quite possibly be the pinnacle culmination of all things I love in life. Seriously, I’m wondering if anything will ever live up to this. Doing a Disney race was part of the Running Wish List last December, therefore I’m glad to be on the right track to making some of those ambitions come true.

And the best part? BF is running it too!!!

Three of my favorite things in the world all coming together into one magical day. I can’t wait. Well, actually I’m going to have to wait…192 days to be exact. BUT I’m not sure if I’ve ever been more excited about a race. Forget a quality finishing time, I’m going to be too distracted by princesses and Mickey to focus on PR-ing.

 

So there you have it. Despite a sea life murder and some persnickety weather, this weekend was delightful. I hope your weekend was good, and hopefully you are enjoying a day off today. I am not, so please enjoy it even more for me!

And to leave you with a final note of something that made me smile yesterday:

Be happy. And have a wonderful start to your week!

 

WHAT DID YOU DO THIS WEEKEND?