First time for everything...

Today was a day of firsts:

• First 10 mile run
• First run with my new Garmin Forerunner 305
• First time to use a gel on a long run
• First ice bath after a long run

I'll devote a paragraph to each to elaborate.

We were scheduled to run 10 miles today, but in the end I actually wound up running 10.95 miles. We ran part of the way on the course of the Mercedes Half Marathon. I've mapped it out on www.mapmyrun.com and again, if I did it correctly, it should show up at the end of the post.

The Garmin Forerunner was a gift from my husband for Christmas.  We exchanged gifts
yesterday and I was so excited when I got it.  It showed my pace during the whole run and kept
up with the mileage.  Definitely a worthwhile investment.  I'm excited about reading the manual
and finding out what else it can do.

I also used a gel for the first time on this run.  I got a Clif Shot in mango flavor.  We had a water
stop around five miles so that's where I stopped to do the gel.  It tasted pretty awful and I had to
choke it down taking a sip of water and then another chunk of gel.  I was worried about it
upsetting my stomach, but once it was down, I was good.  I wondered if it would really help me. 
About a mile later we started up a long hill (about a mile long) and I could definitely feel it working.
I'm glad I had it with me.  I just need to find a flavor that isn't so horrendous.

I felt relatively good the entire run, which surprised me.  I've been trying to psych myself up all
week telling myself that I could go this far and I guess it worked.  I was the last person to finish
(again) but I felt so good when it was over that I didn't care!  I was just glad to be done.  A few of
us went over to Starbucks to get some coffee and warm up and then I drove home.

Now it's time to talk about the ice bath.  Our coach told us we should do this after our long runs,
but I was a bit skeptical.  I think I was more nervous about the ice bath than the actual run!  I got
home and filled up the tub.  That took a while since we have a big garden tub.  More time to delay
the pain of getting in.  Finally it was time.  I called my husband into the bathroom so he could
distract me while I was in the tub.  Getting in was excruciating!  I let out a few choice expletives
while submerging my lower half in the water.  After two minutes though, as long as I didn't move, it
felt like I was in warm water.  I stayed in for 15 minutes and then got out of the tub into a warm
shower.  The shower felt like heaven!  And I could already tell that my legs were feeling better
than they normally do after a run.  I could bend down to get the shampoo and it didn't hurt at all! 
I think I'm a believer in ice baths now! 

Now I think I'm going to take a nap for awhile.  I think I've deserved it.  :)