Running in Wonderland

Today I did something for a first....

I got my butt out of bed...drove to George  Washington Parkway to the Mount Vernon Trail by myself, and ran...well, more like jogged....ok I'm exaggerating, crawled 7 MILES!! 

Here was the beginning of my run!

Holy cow!! That was the hardest thing I have done to date. A 10K is a piece of cake now!

So....I decided to start slow. YIKES!! I didn't know I was gonna get slower! Haha!! My mistake that I will correct before my next long run....start with my run/walk intervals and then increase speed. This is a total learning process for me. The other problem is that the path I take for long runs seems like it is ALL UP HILL!! How is this possible?? I think I remember going up hill 16 times but only down hill twice! Ok....something was wrong.....was I running in Wonderland. (If you are familiar with any of the adaptations of Alice in Wonderland, you will know exactly what I'm talking about....tricks and turns...mazes and loops!!) 

At one point, I thought I had run into the Mad Hatter...I literally saw this one dude on a bike 3 times!!! Was he lost....was a stalker....was he just trying to check me out?? Or maybe he lost his mind and thought he was going in the right direction the entire time?? Uummmm...makes you wonder...

At one point, I did encounter bread-n-butterflies. The birds and flowers were singing to me or were  they frantically telling me to turn around cuz i was the maddest one around. 

Of course.....i saw the White Rabbit too!! He passed me twice and both times was looking at his watch! Yes, folks, I was officially looney on this run!! HA!!

This was my halfway mark where I turned around...it was I still going in the same direction???

 I was even having arguments with signs on the road! I started telling the "Reduce Speed Ahead" sign that I couldn't go any slower and every time I saw a Stop sign, I had to hiss at it! 

This one sign made me laugh...I signaled that I was finally going down hill and there was a chance I could see bikes losing control in the icy conditions today...See even the signs were "mad!!"

I passed the Cheshire Cat once...she was walking and smiling from ear to eat!! Another "mad" one!! No one can be that happy in this trail!! hehe!!

Oh an let's not forget Tweedle Dumb was lost an looking for her twin! He had the nerve to ask as I hobbled along where the closest store was! OMG!! Who does that?? "Madness!!" ;)

At the last half mile, I saw Glinda the  Good ride pass me... WAIT!! When did I arrive in Oz!?!?!? 

Anyways....once my Garmin beeped at Mile 7, it woke me up from my slumber and i walked back to the car. Seeing my little VW never made me happier!!  

Well, I did it!! Was it a dream? Am I just waking up??? Nope...that's impossible! If I was dreaming, I wouldn't finished A LOT faster!! I RAN SEVEN MILES!!! And even though I was under my normal pace, it did not matter to me! I started and I finished, and it is the best feeling ever!!! I am in love with my new kicks.

Aren't they purple-y pretty!!?!?

They have already got me through 10 miles so far with many more to come!! 

Til next time...keep it real folks!! You never know what you'll encounter!! 

Have a magical evening!! 

Jessica