18 miles

My training for the Baltimore Marathon is in full swing and this weekend, I had to run a scary amount of miles.  Something about the hearing myself say I needed to run 18 miles really freaked me out.  I have run that far before; I’ve run farther – BUT that was 5 years ago!

Supplies for the road - Two 10oz bottles of water, one frozen; 3 different flavors of Gu; Nathan Speedbelt to hold it all

The distance was certainly intimidating, but I managed to make it through all those miles and I had a fantastic run.  The first 12 miles flew by.  I made a quick stop at home at for an emergency Body Glide re-application (oh, the joys of long distance running!).  After I headed back out, my legs must have thought they were done for the day so they took a little while to get going again.  By mile 15, I felt great again.  My last 2 miles were 9:50 and 9:22 respectively.  Considering my average pace was around 10:19 for the first 16 miles, I’m happy I was able to push myself for the last two.  I tried to keep my pace a little slower throughout the whole run so I didn’t run out of steam.  The run took me just over 3 hours in total.

I dare you not to drool looking at this

It’s a good thing I burned over 2,000 calories during my long run because last week I made a delicious new treat – German Chocolate Cake Balls.  German chocolate cake, mixed with coconut pecan frosting, covered in German chocolate, and topped with coconut.  They were amazing! I made them for a playdate and they were a huge hit.  I sent some home with a friend and sent the remainder to work with hubby so that I would not be tempted to eat them all.  Everyone loved them.  I think they were my favorite cake balls yet.

Big thanks to my hand model (hubby) for displaying the gooey inside

Happy running!

Related articles

• Zain’s Half Marathon (the-running-mom.com)
• This is why I have to run 12 miles on a Saturday morning (the-running-mom.com)
• 10 miles with Z (the-running-mom.com)