a little explanation

So what have the Besses been up to this weekend?

A whole lot of nothing too exciting. Dinner date, movies, relaxing, + a little studying here and there.

We tossed around a few Christmasy date ideas, but I was too lazy last night to go walk around outside. Yesterday my day was devoted to one thing: a 20-mile run. Literally, that's all I did. Wake up, run, ice bath, nap, and then it was dinner time. No clue where the day went. Kyle will say the same thing, except he was inside learning important doctor-to-be stuff.

Sorry to blog about this, but this is the furthest I will go until the race, and the furthest I have EVER run in my life--- so I must document it for me to remember so that I will either read back and remind myself never to run another marathon again, or remind myself that I can do it. Because I really did it. Bam. AND with NO music. (double Bam).

7am: Stephanie and I met and ran 9 with a group of girls who forced us to run slower than usual. Thank goodness bc we tend to go a little fast and then die at the end. And we needed all the extra energy we could get. We hit up all the runner friendly water stops (the Shell station, Track Shak) and saw about 30 other runners along the way. Which is always so much better to know you're not the only crazy one out there at 7am on a Saturday doing a long run. The weather was ideal (40-50 degrees and then 60 when we finished) and I felt better than anticipated. My joints didn't hurt as bad as usual and I was in less pain than I thought I would be. SO all in all and 3 and a half hours later, the 20-miler was a success!

Sometimes I wonder, why am I doing this? Why do I love doing races so much and always having a schedule that tells me what I need to run each day? Well here's a little history and explanation... My whole life I was a dancer. Every day growing up was devoted to school and dance practically, and there was always a performance that I was working towards. Now that I no longer dance I feel like races are my "performance" that keep me motivated and pushing my body on a physical level. Dance will always hold a special part in my life, and I'm grateful for the lessons it taught me: always push yourself, even through the pain, and the importance of hard work and goals.

So there you have it. The dancer that created a runner and racer.