Chapter 2 page 349 - TR 122 Take that crappy Monday run

OHHHHH HOW I LOVE RUNNING WITH "C" . . . .and "L"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  What an awesome long run!!!  Where to even start????????????  OHHH you might recall reading about my craptastic run on Monday that was suppose to be the long 8 miler but instead turned into the horrible 5 mile hill workout . . . yeah, there's all sunshine and rainbows about today's actual 8 miler!!!!!!

Here's how it went down:

Miles 0-1.13:  Spring into Training's final session (so sad, they have progressed sooo much!!!!!) - walked with the group as a whole.  Leisurely maybe 18 m/m or so.  It was beautiful - we walked on the zig zag path which is a paved path through a heavily wooded area - beautiful!!!
Mile 1.13 - quick port potty stop while the group continued on
Mile 1.13 - 1.20 sprinted to "catch up" to the SIT group - came up to the last 2 people in the group who were a wee bit off the full group's pace.  Chatted with them for a few minutes.
Mile 1.25-1.75 sprinted to catch up to the rest of the SIT group
Mile 1.75-2.23 Walked with the group back to the cars.

After a quick goodbye, met up with "L" AND "C" (it feels like it has been FOREVER since the 3 of us trained together - totally miss that!!!!) and we continued on for the rest of our long run. 
Mile 2.25- 2.75 walked as a return to exercise (and "C" hadn't joined us on the previous SIT walk)
Mile 2.75- 4.5 did 2:2 intervals.  ("L" stayed with us until mile 3.5 or so I think).  They felt strong and faster than we used to run them.  I felt REALLY good.
Mile 4.5 - stopped at the fast food restaurant so we could go potty and get some water
Mile 4.5 - 6.5 - did 2:2 intervals.  These intervals also passed by without agony.  I was able to talk and laugh but felt we were going faster than our normal snail crawl.  I would say that the bulk of the runs were in the upper 13 m/m (which is nearly 90 seconds faster than I tend to do the other long runs)
Mile 6.5 stopped at the car to get a drink
Mile 6.5 - 7.6 - 2:2 intervals still feeling strong and booking it (comparitely)
Mile 7.6 - quick drink break
Mile 7.6 - 8.5 - 2:2 intervals unbelievabley do-able!!!!  Sooo thrilled I wasn't hating life or begging to walk through an interval.
Mile 8.5 - end - walking cool down followed by a LOT of stretching! 
As we were getting into our cars we saw a raccoon - pictures and details coming soon - CRA-ZY!

Why was this so do-able?

1.  SIT for the first 2.23 miles
2.  "L" & "C" for the next mile
3.  "C" for the entire rest of the long run (we all know I'm NOT a solo runner - I'm just not and I'm hoping that is alright with all of you!)
4.  I had a great snack (great being realtive) about 30-45 minutes before SIT (small grilled chicken wrap and a cup of  low fat vanilla yogurt with strawberries and blueberries mixed in and topped with a sprinkle of granola). 
5.  Before the final 6 miles, I had an orange gu (ever tried it?  tastes just like the liquid in those freeze pops - those tubes of flavored liquid that you freeze and eat as popsicles - NOT my fav, but it didn't cause any GI issues).
6.  Sensible hydration.  I didn't carry any water with me which felt freeing and dangerous, but more mimicked racing.  I drank before, after 2.23 miles, at mile 4.5, at mile 6.5, at mile 7.6, and at the end.  It worked out very well.
7.  The temp was reasonable - mid 70's (humidity was 99% - sweatarama!!!!).
8.  "C" and "L"  - 'nuf said!

It's going to be a busy 36 hours of running so stay tuned . . . .long run tonight, 5K race on Friday night and another one exactly 12 hours later on Saturday morning!!!  Many of my Spring Into Training participants will be doing one or both of those 5Ks so I'll take lots of photos to share with you all ('cuz I know inquiring minds wanna know :)