I had an exceptionally wonderful run yesterday.  It was 90 minutes long at gorgeous Kendall Hills in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  And bonus: it was breezy and 55 degrees (at 5pm)!

Kendall Hills was (and still is) my high school's race location when we host cross country meets.  The copious amount of hills makes it the 6th hardest course in the state! 

This 90 minute run I completed has a name.  In high school the joke we used to make for this type of workout (in our slightly immature and witty banter) was LSD: Long Slow Distance.

During a long slow run you are NOT to calculate your miles.  You are to simply run a certain amount of time.  The control freak in me wants to know exactly how long it takes me to run, let's say, 14 miles.  But you are simply going by time.  

And SLOW is the other factor.  This workout requires some self control to slow down your pace by a few minutes per mile when you would rather go your normal speed.

Just 2 more days until the Portage Lakes Olympic Distance Triathlon!  

1500m swim

26 mi bike

6.2 mi run

I am a lucky girl to get to spend the next few days at my sister and brother-in-law's house!  And even luckier that they are coming to the race to cheer me on.    Ashley still holds the award as the cutest pregnant girl.  :)   

This season I have developed some traditions the night before races: 

-I paint my toenails (usually a happy pink color).  :)

-I watch a 90s movie (the last one was Driving Miss Daisy.  The one before was Turner and Hooch).  

-I get all of my items ready for the race and leave my outfit lying out.

-I eat a Raw Revolution bar (they are unbelievably tasty!).  They have 2 flavors that are 100% raw and the rest are about 80%.  This one is my favorite:

I also have some fun traditions the morning of races:

-I eat another Raw Revolution bar.

-I have a devotional and Bible time.  It really puts me in the right mindset for the race.  It puts my life into perspective and helps me start the day with a thankful and grateful attitude.

-Driving to the race I eat 8 dates, a banana, and an apple.

I'll post race results and pictures on Monday.  Stay tuned!  

If you haven't watched my video from the previous post I talk about how I'm doing a juice fast this Monday (the day after the race).  This is, of course, AFTER I treat myself to a vegan dessert Sunday night.  :)

Have a lovely weekend!

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past…we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.  Isn't life 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it?  Let us be thankful: we are in charge of our attitudes!”
-Swindoll