18 Miles!...oh yeah, and a juice fast

OK, before I recap my first day of the juice fast that Emilie has created, I have to talk about my biggest accomplishment yet.  On Saturday, I ran 18 miles!  That's the farthest I have ever run.  When I did my 16 mile run a couple of weeks ago, I had a REALLY awful run.  By mile 13, I was really doubting my ability to complete a marathon and I found myself telling Paul that I didn't think I was going to do it.  Then, when he told me I could drop out if I wanted, I got really mad and told him that there was no way I was going to drop out and have to tell everyone I decided not to do it.  Yeah, it wasn't my finest moment...hmmmm, now that I think about, I bet that's why Paul ran ahead of me for most of the 18 mile run on Saturday :)

So, because of my horrible experience during my 16 mile run, I was really dreading the 18 mile run.  My legs have the tendency to seize up around mile 11.5 and then I'm forced to run with permanent charlie horses...it's not fun AT ALL!  But, this week, I was proactive and made sure I drank Gatorade during the first few miles, and I used my camelback to stay hydrated the whole time.  It worked!  I only had one tiny little leg cramp around mile 15, and it went away as soon as I stopped to stretch it out.  I finished the run feeling good and strong, and I even felt like I had a couple more miles in me.  So, I'm hoping my 20 mile run is just as good.

I'm in the home stretch of marathon training.  The Vermont City Marathon is May 26th, so I only have a few weeks left.  I have reached the point in training where I fluctuate between complete excitement, total fear, and ominous dread.  One moment I am exhilarated by the thought of crossing the finish line, and the next moment I'm terrified of standing at the starting line.  Luckily, I have been through these feelings before with half marathon training, so I can talk myself through them. 

So, on to the second half of this post.  Emilie, my favorite blogger (it's true Emilie!) and Clean Food Challenge creator, organized a three day juice cleanse.  Since I always do the Clean Food Challenge along with Emilie, there was no question as to whether I would participate in the juice cleanse.  It started yesterday and ends tomorrow night.  Totally manageable!  I modified the cleanse slightly to accommodate the high mileage I'm running right now.  I didn't want my runs to suffer, so instead of just juice, I added smoothies to my day. 

My smoothies are pretty much just fruit, greens and water, so I figure it's close to all juice.  I'm also including  hemp seeds in my smoothies for some protein.  Oh, and I'm also allowing myself one cup of coffee each morning.  There is NO WAY I'm giving that up!

Yesterday went pretty well!  I had a smoothie for breakfast and dinner, and I drank Odwalla juice (Green Machine) for lunch.  I planned to make juice in the morning, but I didn't have enough time after my early morning run.  I also guzzled a lot of water!  I had some points during the day when I REALLY wanted to eat actual food.  At one point, my coworker was munching on tortilla chips and I wanted them so bad!  But, overall I felt like I could handle it.  So, I'm now on day two and I'm drinking my smoothie as I type.  I have some yummy juice for lunch and dinner will probably be another smoothie...or maybe one or two glasses of juice.  I'm wondering if today will be more difficult than yesterday.  I find with the Clean Food Challenge that I always struggle half way through.  I guess I'll just have to see what happens.  I'll keep you posted.