Toenails and Beer

So, today I was taking off my dark pink toenail polish for a long overdue pedicure when I noticed the polish on my second toenail would not come off. I scrubbed and scrubbed to no avail, then remembered how badly my nail had hurt after a few runs a couple weeks back. I looked closer and realized this was NOT toenail polish (I have bad eyes).



Sorry about the scary foot shot, but I had to show you guys.

Looks like I may be losing this bad-boy in a little while. Although it doesn't hurt anymore, it's pretty badly bruised and the nail is awfully brittle. So I did what any clever female runner would do, slap on some darker polish and hope for the best. But I did make a mental note to change my toenail polish a little more often so I would notice these things.

Other than that, it's been a busy weekend. Saturday morning J and I headed out for our 16 mile run. It was my first 16 miler in over a year and with all the bad luck I had been having with my long runs, I was a little worried.

So what's the best way to calm pre-run jitters before a 16 miler? If you said drink 6 beers and eat Shepherd's Pie at a local Irish bar, you would be correct.

I didn't drink all 6 beers at once. I had 2 at lunch and the other 4 at dinner. We had some friends from Miami come stay with us for the weekend and they got here on Friday morning so I didn't want to be a bad host. And to my credit, I made myself drink Miller Lite and water with every beer, so it actually wasn't that bad. But the Shepherd's Pie, while delicious, was probably not the best idea. I felt like I had a cinderblock in my stomach when I got home. For a few minutes, I really thought this was the prefect excuse to get out of my morning run.

But when 5am rolled around I was suddenly cured, so we headed out around six. And wouldn't you know it, I had a FANTASTIC run. I ran strong the entire time and felt pretty wonderful. We started in the dark, which I LOVE but am usually too lazy to get up and do anymore. And with the exception of a quick rainstorm around mile 6, the weather was nice. It was cool but not cold, breezy but not windy and overcast skies and mist made it feel pretty comfortable. And while I was soaked when I was done, I was never hot or miserable. Those nagging thoughts that I have been suffering from for so long never entered my mind this weekend and I even got scolded for running too fast by J when we were done (we weren't running too fast but I don't want to get into that).

Was it simply the weather, the boost of confidence from my success at the Distance Run the week before, or does beer make me a better runner?

I wish it were the beer, unfortunately, I probably will not be filling my fuel belt with Amstel Light for my training runs. I'll just chalk it up as a fluke, consider myself lucky and go back to water and pasta before a big run.

But AFTER a run is a WHOLE different story. And where do you go in Philly to gain back all 1,800 calories you burned on a 16 miler?





We had to show our friends some classic Philly! Like I said, I wouldn't want a to be a bad host!

We have another day of eating, I mean showing them around Philly tomorrow before they head out. After that I will have some time to check in with all you guys. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Monday, 9/22 - off
Tuesday, 9/23 - bike -18 miles/1:23, core
Wednesday, 9/24 - off
Thursday, 9/25 - 6.2 miles/59:24 - 9:34 pace, core, weights
Friday, 9/26 - off
Saturday, 9/27 - 16 miles/2:38 - 10:00 pace
Sunday, 9/28 - off

Total Weekly Mileage: 22.2 (RUN)
Total Weekly Mileage: 18 (BIKE)