No Rest For the Wicked

Saturday

I had a long run scheduled. A really long run. Remember that Lisa J sent me some awesome new running tops? Well I decided that wearing one of them would be PERFECT for my run of insanity on the treadmill. Agree?

So yes. I set my alarm for 5:35 (am if that wasn't clear), got dressed and drove to the gym.  Did you know that the gym is practically deserted at that hour? RLRF run schedule:

RLRF (MP, WK8, KR3)

20 miles @ MP

+ 30 sec/mile

That's right.  TWENTY miles. Other than my 4 marathons and 1 ultra, I have only run 20 miles ONCE. And that was last October. And it took me 3:48:42 to run 20.14 miles. Well, let me tell you that it went... great. I mean, as great as it could possibly go.

20 miles @ MP

+30 sec/mile

Goal Pace - 11:12

Actual Pace - 11:07

Total miles run - 20.21 (longest training run EVER)

Total treadmill time - 3:45

I. Freakin. Rocked. This. That is all.

As an aside, I decided to try the race belt that Hippie Runner sent me. I obviously didn't need it since I was at the gym on the treadmill, but I wanted to know if their claim of "no bouncing" was in fact true. I'll say this... I wore it the entire first hour of my run (took it off when I had to reset). It didn't bounce at all during that time, in fact, I forgot it was even there. I did have my iPhone in there, so there was weight that I should have noticed. Once minor complaint is that I can't make it as tight as I would like so I have to wear it a bit lower than I am normally comfortable with, but since it doesn't move around, I'll deal with it. GREAT PRODUCT.

Sunday

Yeah, don't think for a SECOND that I am bad ass enough to do this race. But... I did sign me and A to volunteer. The aid station that we were scheduled to work was a Vegas theme, and we committed to working for the busiest four hours of the race. Did you know that in 24 hours notice it is nearly impossible to come up with an appropriate "Vegas" costume for a 5 year old? I did my best. Luckily I still have the outfit I raced in for RnR Las Vegas. Here we are pre-race:

And here is the aid station that we were going to be working along the run portion:

It. Was. Hot. Crazy hot. A was the only kid volunteering and she was given the task of handing out cups of ice. I was at the first table handing out cups of Gatorade. We arrived at the trail head parking just before 9:00 am, and the bulk of the runners started arriving sometime after 10:00. I really thought that A would only be able to stand the heat and standing for 2-3 hours. My sister was racing, and since the run part of the course was a loop, we got to see her pass twice. A was SUPER excited about that:

A hands W some Gatorade

In addition to cheering on my sister and all the AWESOME athletes, I was lucky enough to spot Beth (and husband Ken) from Shut Up and Run doing their first half Ironman! It's very different to be on the volunteer side of racing, and I have to say that it was a fun and rewarding day. I know how much I look forward to the aid stations when I am running and I hope that we provided the racers with some relief in the insane heat.

A decided that we would stay until the very last runner came past because "all the runners need to have something to drink." Man, I love this kid. It was sometime after 2:30 that the last runner (who looked pretty damn strong) came by. We helped tear down and clean up a bit, then we headed out. It was 98 degrees when we got back to the car. Insane. I would have broken down and cried if I would have been racing in those conditions. There was NO shade on the course.

A absolutely LOVES the shirt that she got for volunteering:

If you haven't volunteered lately, you should.