18 Miles & A Pumpkin Spice Latte

I'm pretty good at doing dumb things. Sometimes it may be on purpose, just to get a good laugh out of people. Other times, it's solely from lack of thinking through situations.

I'm going to blame today on the later of the two.

i literally look like i'm crying in that picture. i'm not, however i did feel that sad. 

Today while on my 18 mile run, once I realized that I had made a pretty dumb decision, I started running through what an ESPN announcer would be saying about me, if I was a really good athlete that the public actually cared about. This is what I came up with:

"Well folks, with the New York Marathon being only 8 weeks out, we really can't help but to comment on Kait's recent downward spiral. I mean, as a long distance runner, one is almost obligated to stop and ask, what has this girl been thinking lately?"

"Not only has her diet been extremely off-track the past couple weeks, but she also has been consistantly coming in with lower mileage on weeks that should be a bit higher. And don't get me wrong, I'm all for the occasional off week, with a couple extra days off thrown in, but after a weekend like the one she had last weekend, one can't help but question if she really deserves those THREE days that she took off this past week."

I'm going to stop it there, before the announcers get too brutual and get into the grimy details of last weekend. Those ESPN guys can be ruthless.

So, to get to the point. This morning, my alarm went off at 7 AM. Because I had to run 18 miles. I hit snooze, I woke up at 9:30 AM.

Instead of flipping out, I recruited Andrew to go to Starbucks, or (earmuffs kids) Starf*cks as he likes to call it. We both pounded Pumpkin Spice Lattes, because there's no better way to start your day.

after the ice melted.

WHY do they consistently spell my name wrong?

Unless of course, you have to run 18 miles. Then, there are several other great ways to start your day. A banana, perhaps?

So without really thinking, and without really eating much aside from the latte and a cliff bar I hit the trails at 11 AM, with temperatures quickly climbing into the high 80's, partly sunny skies, 80% humidity, and pretty obnoxious winds.

WARNING: This + sugary milky coffee is not great long run fuel. 

It didn't take me too long to figure out, this was one of the worst life choices I had made in awhile. And I'm even including the glow in the dark face paint last weekend.

This is getting fairly long-winded, so I shall wrap it up. I suppose, as Kelly Clarkson so eloquently puts it, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger". I finished the run, and I lived to tell the tail. I maintained a pace of 8:40, and only one of those 18 miles were over a 9:00 pace. Regardless of the fact that miles 12-18 felt like I was getting the shit beat out of me with a metal bat, I finished. Boom.

Lesson learned life, lesson learned.

Cheers to some better life decisions in months to come ;)