I decided to do an afternoon run since it was a Sunday and going to be relatively cool all day. I also enjoy afternoon runs more. While I was drinking my coffee I found that the Triathlon Sprint World Championships were on Universal Sports. I love triathlons. I am completely obsessed with the Ironman, particularly Kona. Imagine what it's like to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Hard right? But now instead, its a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride and a marathon. A WHOLE 26.2 mile marathon! To go to Kona? You have to pretty much win your age group in a previous Ironman. You might be able to come in 2nd or 3rd depending on how many people race in your age group and if people decline, but it's that serious and real mortal people do it. Trust me! Go to Universal's page and see when the Hawaii/World Championships are on. They are doing reruns frequently because the 2011 championship is coming up. They also usually do a bunch of them in a row on New Years Day. That's when I first caught the coverage and was hooked. They don't just show the race, they feature stories on the elites and special racers. The second group is what's really touching. There are cancer survivors, a nun, a guy who is 85, people recovering from horrific accidents, you name it. It's amazing and very real. Some of them don't make all the cutoffs and they show the tears with the triumphs.
When that was over, we made our way down to the market for some Roxy's Grilled Cheese. Maybe food from some other trucks, but Roxy's was first priority. Apparently it was for some other people too!
The line is longer than it looks and an hour or so later it was double this!
Getting closer! How cute is this truck? I just want to squeeze it! We got the Mighty Rib grilled cheese with short rib, fontina and caramelized onions. Holy cow! That was a good sandwich. We also got the poutine made with sausage gravy. We shared both of these, so I'm going to pretend I didn't eat much of either. Does it help if I didn't have breakfast?
If you love food trucks as much as I do, you may have been watching the Great Food Truck Race that Roxy's was competing on. There was definitely an air of excitement around the truck yesterday, but judging by the food we had, it was well deserved. I won't say how the series is panning out to avoid a spoiler. All of the guys were there yesterday and just as friendly and hard working as you see on tv. I can't wait to go back! Next time I will be getting the Green Muenster unless they have a special I want. The special on Sunday looked amazing, but had duck in it. I want to like duck, but just haven't managed to convince myself. Not more than I like short ribs, anyway.
We wandered around and around for a while. I wasn't really feeling like shopping even though I had wanted to go shopping there for a while. The Husband was curious about the Go Fish food truck so we went over to see.
He ended up wanting to get the Fried Haddock Sandwich. Again, holy cow. I wish I wasn't too full to manage more than a couple of bites. This is, hands down, the best fried fish sandwich I have ever had. The line was a bit slow, but it was all forgotten after getting our food. I'd happily stand in line for it again.
Of course, since I didn't feel like shopping, The Husband did. After being dragged around for a while, I went home, crashed on the bed and took an hour nap. I love naps! Once I got the quilt lines off of my face, I went out for my 5 miles and he came with me.
It was really nice out, low 60s and no humidity. I was so thankful I had healed enough to run in the weather I had been waiting so long for! I felt good at the beginning, but my foot did start to ache after about a mile. I kind of knew it was probably in my head at this point, mentally told it to bug off and it did. After that we took off. He runs much faster than I do, but I noticed I was keeping a pace where he was able to still run comfortably. If I slow down, he has to shuffle. We got to 1.5 miles in 15 minutes and I felt really good. I started to wonder if I could keep it up for all 5. I knew I could run 3 faster, so why not? As my trainer says, what am I saving it for? We got to the turn around at 2.5 miles in just under 25 minutes and I knew that if I did that with a big uphill, I could keep up the pace with a downhill on the way back. I got to 4 at about 39:40. I was going to do it! I wanted to quit, but seriously, it was 9 or 10 more minutes! The last mile hurt. A lot. It's on cement sidewalks and involves dodging distracted pedestrians and running up a hill for the last 1/4 mile. I saw The Husband looking back like he was trying to pull me along and I dug in. We got to the top (somehow I passed him, but probably because the sidewalk was so crowded) in 49:47! Earlier, I wasn't sure if my food truck lunch was the best choice, but I guess it agreed with me!
One year ago I just wanted to run 5 miles at a sub 12 minute pace. Now I ran a sub 10. I almost didn't believe it. I don't say this to brag. I'm super proud and excited that it's finally happening, but mostly, I want you know that that it can happen. You just have to stick with it. You have to be willing to be uncomfortable. It doesn't mean to hurt yourself, be careful, but to get out of your physical AND mental comfort zone. I never knew how to push myself until this year. Yes, having a trainer made a huge difference, but you can do it on your own. Just make it a test. Can you run that 400 faster? Even just by 0.1mph? What about when you are trying to get a mile or two down at a faster pace and at the point when your lungs burn and your legs feel heavy, when you'd normally stop, can you go for one more minute? Just one...maybe two? You may really surprise yourself.
After I went home...the Kona Ironman was on! Yay! I got to relax, watch the coverage and then the new episode of the Food Truck Race. After that, I went to bed and read some magazines before falling asleep. It was just such a nice relaxing day. It was such a relief to run more than a mile of two without pain.
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