Spectacular!

I had the BEST run of my life on Saturday! This happened for several reasons:

1. I have learned how to properly fuel (at least mostly). I had Panda Express the night before (orange chicken with lots of brown rice aka protein and lots of carbs). I had three eggs and toast for breakfast before my run. I had a Powerbar Performance Energy Blend (Blueberry Banana) just before I ran. An hour into my run, I had GU Vanilla Bean (which I don't really like, but can handle). After the run, I had a Gatorade and copious amounts of water.

2. I have awesome shoes. As seen here.

3. Weather was beautiful. I even had to wear a sweatshirt to drive to the trail. I have never appreciated fall more.

4. I have trained well and my body was prepared!

So my run was 11 miles. My time was around 2:07, which is perfect for the pace I'm trying to get. I'm not sure that I'm quite on pace to get my ultimate goal of 2:30, but I'm going to get close enough to feel good.

I mentioned before that I have a hard time getting over the mental hurdle of double digit runs. Not sure why, but Saturday's run was just perfect. I don't know what I did differently mentally, but I made it through. I know this will help me both with this Saturday's 12 miler and the next Saturday's half marathon because I know I could have continued on in this run and done the whole 13.1 miles. It's exciting to be able to prove to myself that I'm ready for my next challenge-- 26.2!

PS-maybe Panda Express will sponsor me. I'm pretty sure I'm one of the only runners ever to use them as pre-race fuel. (don't judge me, it worked!)

PPS-if anyone from Panda Express corporate happens to be reading this, I'd accept the sponsorship offer. Thanks in advance.