Yes. Twelve.

I did a much better job with my preparations this week. I didn’t get all of my midweek mileage in, but I got the majority in. I did hill work outs. I cross trained. I made good food choices last night. Actually, if I’m being completely honest, I didn’t have anything to do with my food choices last night. The dinner that was made for me was full of good carbs, so it made for some good energy this morning. I turned down a movie invitation so that I could get to bed at a decent hour…which was pretty early considering what time I needed to be out the door this morning. And I remembered to fill all of my water bottles and put them in the fridge.

The one thing I did forget was that I needed to wash my “outfit”. Yes, I have an official “long run get up”…from my tank top to my socks. And it was still in the hamper from last week. By the time I got home, it was about 9:00 and so I ran inside “the big house” to get the washer going, only to discover it was in use…oh how I miss the days of living totally alone. However living with my dad and step-mom does have its advantages. I ran upstairs and asked Sharon if she’d mind throwing my laundry in. Of course she said yes.

Oh, and I was heading back to my hole over the garage to go to bed when I realized that the new playlist had not been created, and you all know how I feel about my playlists (do you love how I put that right in passive voice, like it was supposed to create itself?). They are the lifeblood of my runs. My playlist is my guide. It determines when I run, when I walk, when I drink and when I refuel. Amazing, isn’t it? Who knew a playlist could do so much?

Not only had it not been created, but I had a whole shload of songs that I needed to download onto my computer. My darling 19-year-old cousin, Tanya, was at my grandma’s this week with her computer (i.e. her music), so I asked her if she wouldn’t mind making me a cd. You see, I love to run to rap and hip-hop but I don’t actually own a lot of it. I’m not super familiar with which artists I like, so it’s hard to know what to buy. Plus, I’m trying to curb my superfluous spending.

Tanya burned me an entire dvd of songs, in data form, so I am now fully stocked. While I could have easily just put up with the old music, after reading all about how much Cristin loves the Spice Girls and hearing JT’s Summertime about five times this last week on the radio, a song which is now in my possession thanks to Tanya, I just didn’t want to do it. So, I sat down and downloaded about 50 of the 400+ new songs…and a playlist was born, with a “walk” song every fifth, rather than sixth, song since I was going to be working on my uphill game.

Okay…to the run. Apparently, when the majority of what I’ve been doing on my long runs has been downhill, changing things up to do half up and half down adds about 1 minute to my average mile. I was a little discouraged, but part of this whole training process is about me learning how to be okay with setbacks and imperfections, so I managed to let it go about four miles into the run. Of course, it probably didn’t help that the first, oh, four miles of my run were done in the dark. Did I mention that I started my run at 4:45? No? Well, I did. The “friends” were having a joint yard sale starting at 8:00 am and I had yet to take my stuff over or tag it, which meant I had to be done by 7:15 at the latest, so 4:45 it was. Yes…I am insane. I have a hard time dragging my butt out of bed at 6:00 to get to work, but I’ll get up at 4:00 on a Saturday.

Back to the run…I’m sure the fact that I was running in the dark, a bit paranoid about both tripping and being attacked by the crazy man who lurks just off the canyon trail waiting for some idiot runner to come by at 5:00 am, on top of the fact that the first half of my run was uphill, slowed me down just a bit. Evidently, the crazy man had been apprised of my mad fighting skills, so he didn’t mess. And because I was picking up my feet a bit more, there was no tripping either. However, I don’t think I’ll be repeating that again. I mean, I don’t like it when the trail is crowded, but when you are the only person on it, and it’s dark, it’s a bit, well, creepy. I was so glad when I spotted two runners right around mile 4.

Moving on…the run was relatively uneventful…besides the visions of death and dismemberment going on in my head. My callouses are protecting my feet nicely, so I didn’t get a single blister. After testing both Body Glide and Sport Shield (at the recommendation of my friendly running store clerk), I’ve decided that Sport Shield works much better for me, so zero chaffing. I managed to finish off my pina colada energy chews (I really did start gagging at one point) and was able to finish my run with the strawberry ones. That is definitely my favorite flavor, although I plan on using other flavors so that I don’t end up hating them. The new playlist was great…once I actually felt safe enough to put my headphones in. I’m not usually a paranoid person. In fact, it’s probably good that I did feel a little scared this morning since I can be a bit naive when it comes to my safety.

It took me about eight miles to get into any kind of groove (so not fun), but the last four miles were pretty great and I was able to pick up the pace quite a bit. The best part of my run, though, was seeing one of the counselors from my work and his wife, who are also training for St. George when I hit mile 11. Why, you ask? Because, while they were only one mile into their 12 (we are on the same training schedule), I was one mile from being done. It was a great feeling!

No deep thoughts for today. No new insights. Nothing. Apparently, fearing for your life completely eclipses any epiphanies that might have otherwise occurred. Oh well, I’ve got quite a few long runs to come, during which I can epiphanize to my heart’s content. Yes, epiphanize…I like to make up words. Sue me.

Playlist to come…but for now, I’ve got to run (not literally…I think 12 miles is good for one day).