The secret to success is a 14 mile warm up

Hey, remember how I was all smug on Friday morning about how I was going to return to Whole30 for the day and then slowly reintroduce foods one at a time?

It didn't work out quite as planned.

It lasted until about 6pm. I had bought fresh baked french bread to reintroduce grains on Saturday, and I just had to have a piece. And what the hell is the point of bread without butter? And you know what goes great with bread? An oreo McFlurry. And you know what really helps wash that down? Wine. And so Whole30 was really, truly over.

I was pretty sure that meant I was screwed on my run the next day, but what was done was done. I picked up my bib for the 10k, then began my solo 14 miles around 6am.

Selfie or it didn't happen.

I ran the first 14 at an average 9:05 pace and was surprised how by easy it felt. I made a quick pit stop at my car to change shoes, eat a Gu, and refill my water, then lined up for the 10k. 

Kara texted me before her 10k last weekend, and my advice single-handledly led her to success. I decided text her while I was waiting for the race to begin in the hope that it would help me as well. I actually laughed out loud when I read her advice.

The race began at 9, and I had to work at 10, so I was hoping to run it in about 54 minutes, which would give me time to change clothes and gulp some water before I clocked in. I'd never run a sub-50 10k before, my PR was 51:31.

We started out, and after a minute or so going frustratingly slow at the congested start, I settled into a comfortably hard pace. I tried not to look too much at my watch, and just go by feel. I actually walked twice in the first two miles because my phone kept playing Eric's terrible music for some reason and I simply can't run listening to that crap.

I found my friend Alex during the third mile and cheered him on and ran with him a little. He made the huge mistake of trying to talk to me, and while he was midsentence I yelled "NO MORE TALKING. FOCUS ON RUNNING" and then sprinted off. It was around this time I had realized that there was potential for a PR, and that really requires all my mental faculties. 

I shocked myself by crossing the finish line at 48:06 (chip time). 

I managed to fit in some quick instagramming as I walked from the finish line to work.

Average pace 7:39 - seriously how did that happen?

There was a lot of nice, flat running, which helped, but those hills at the end felt tough.

I really couldn't believe how good I felt throughout the race, and I am actually kicking myself a bit because I feel I could have pushed it harder. I'm not sure what to attribute this race to. It could have been Whole30, it could have been the McFlurry, it could have been the Run Less Run Faster training, or it could have been the fact that Kara promised she wrote "Alyssa can do it" on a post it as soon as she got my text. It's an enigma, really.

At the finish line. #sobeautiful

I was flying high on PR glory, so although work was crazy I was in a good mood and it went by pretty fast. Plus, Eric was playing running store bouncer! Although I am firmly opposed to married couples working together, at least in our marriage, it was fun to hang out with him when things died down.

Here's what went down Saturday night. Stuffed crust pizza unpictured.

Help me make a decision - what factor really led to this race success? 

Or if you don't want it to be all about me - what's the first thing you would eat after a month of no dairy/sugar/alcohol/grains?