Taper time, and Judd Nelson is alive!

One of my 80s crushes. Swoon.

It's not true, whew! Judd Nelson is alive and aging like the rest of us.

***
This past week marked a few firsts/bests for me. My highest weekly mileage ever, 57.1 miles. My highest mileage for a weekend of running, 39.5 miles.

And my first run in the pitch-black woods at Bullfrog Lake -- not something this city girl is used to.

This past weekend was the last big push in terms of logging in training miles. My goal was to run back to back 20-milers -- on Saturday on hilly wooded trails, since that's what my 50K race will be on, and Sunday in the city, since my 3 and 5-year-old were registered for the Evanston Trick or Trot race. More on that later.

The Palos Forest Preserve, where Bullfrog Lake is located, really is this lovely. In the dark, it is kind of spooky!

Fortunately, I had friends with headlamps. I once again brought my dorklight, er, household flashlight.

Hey! Want to meet in the woods at 5 a.m. and run in the dark with me? My awesome pals Shaun and Krista, far right, amazingly said "Sure!"

We ran the hilly Bullfrog trail in the dark for the first hour and a half. Picture a carpet of bright yellow leaves and dark trees all around you and that's what the run was until the sky began to lighten.

Once we settled in, my nerves quieted and I began to really, really enjoy the peace. And my friends' enthusiasm was awesome. Shaun said several times "I love this!" alternately with comparing our run to the Blair Witch Project, haha.

By daylight, it was like a whole different run. Another friend joined us for the second loop of our run. The late October date meant brilliant fall colors. I forgot to take pictures, but soaked it all in.

Our little runners before the race.

I wound up getting 17.6 miles in and ran out of time to do the full 20, because it was time to get back to the city and hit our neighborhood's trick or treating at local businesses.

For Sunday I asked a friend if she would start with me at 4 a.m. Amazingly, she said yes. (I have some really fantastic running friends. Seriously.)

We ran 12 along the lakefront nice and easy from 4 a.m. to 6:30 a.m., and I tacked on another 2 miles before heading to the grocery store and home.

We made it to the trick or trot just in time, and the kids had a blast. I think they liked the bouncy house better than the race -- who can blame them? M-man ran a quarter mile, the distance for 5-6 year olds, and C-girl ran 100 meters for the 3-4 year old crowd. They were adorable.

M-man (left)  is flying.

After the race, I help my husband get the kids in the car and then began my run home. I figured it was about 6 miles, though of course I did not bother to map it out.

It was a brilliantly sunny day, and I began to get very warm as I went home. I was also quite tired.

When I knew I was less than two miles from my house, I glanced at my Strava app and saw that I had already hit the 20-mile mark for the day... shoot. I wound up running 22.1 miles, more than I thought.

I feel very tired and sore. But I'm elated. I did it! Bring on the taper!

***
Week 13 50K training

Monday 10/20 Rest day/core work and stretching
Tuesday 10/21 5.2 miles
Wednesday 10/22 7.5 miles
Thursday 10/23 4.8 miles
Friday 10/24 Group Centergy class.
Saturday 10/25 17.6 hilly trail miles at Bullfrog Lake
Sunday 10/26 22.1 miles (14.1 pre-dawn miles and 8.0 late morning miles)

Total weekly mileage: 57.1 miles
Total training mileage: 541.2 miles