Archive for September 14th, 2008

That was downright painful.  I knew it would be, 20 miles on a day that, before it was even light out, had a Heat Index of 78.  And this week I learned about dewpoint, which is actually the number that can make a run particularly miserable, more so than humidity.  Anything with a dewpoint over 65 will suck big bananas, today’s was 70 when I left and 72 when I returned (aren’t those things supposed to go down as the day progresses??).

I also had a bit of a scare yesterday on my 4-mile recovery run.  I wore my Asics 2130s knowing they’re no longer good shoes for me for regular runs (not because they’re used up, but because they don’t agree with my ankles and feet), but anyway, I figured some slow recovery miles couldn’t hurt.  I was wrong.  I felt this terrible pain at my heel/ankle, where my dormant bursitis exists, that came and went throughout yesterday’s run.  So all day I did major ibuprofen and ice, scared shitless because an injury at this point would be the LAST thing I need.  Thankfully, it didn’t appear once on the run today and as for those shoes, if I had a gun I’d take them in the backyard and shoot them full of holes, instead they’ll be going to Goodwill this week.

Back to today’s run, I put on my lightest shorts, bra top, My Precious Marathon Shoes for the second time, gel flask rigged to hold some S-caps (because if I ever needed them, today was the day), handheld, and I was gone.  It was 6:23 when I left, just starting to get light out and it was cloudy for the first half of the run, so that helped.  I forgot to eat before I left and was thinking I should have had a little bagel with peanut butter, but was 2 miles in by then, so banished the thought.

Around mile 8, I passed a cute guy in green wearing a hydration belt who said with a smile, “Oh my god, it’s Flo.” then gave me a high-five.  I figured I knew him (because I have a horrible memory for faces, among other things) so trying to not let on, I replied, “How are ya?” as I slapped his palm, to which he answered back something about “Three blocks”, and while I wasted time trying to figure out what he meant (3 blocks left to go? there are no blocks here…) I realized he’d actually said “I read your blog”.  And that was an instant “oh wow how cool” moment, but by that time I’d figured it out, he was too far away to say so.  So Cute Green Guy, you better leave a comment here so I know who you are, it totally gave me an energy infusion and left me with a huge smile on my face!!  Thank you!!

That smile lasted until about mile 15 when I first noticed my feet were as soaked as if I’d been tromping through puddles, nevermind my clothes which had become completely soaked through miles earlier.  I hadn’t put any bodyglide on my feet, so luckily I didn’t feel blisters forming but was ultra aware of the massive pruning going on in my shoes.  Not comfortable.

By then the sun was out, too and while I had originally planned to take a jaunt up Smile Hill, I was so miserably wet and hot by the time I got near it, I said, “fuck it” and made a date with the hill for this Wednesday when I have an 11-miler.  There would be no jaunting today.

As far as pacing goes, I started reeeeeal slow today because I knew the humidity would be a killer, so the first mile was a blistering 10:21, which is funny considering I never would have run that slow before marathon training, but I didn’t give a crap today.  My plan had been to do the proper Pfitz paces, staying around 10s for the first half, moving to Pfitz’s 10% over MP for the second half, which would have been 9:13s.

What ended up was a bit faster (but not hugely), ending with 8:50s for the last miles, average pace for the run today: 9:22 (this includes 3 stops for water refills).  Not bad considering it was such a disgusting day.  In fact, it’s my 4th 20-22 this training cycle and my fastest, despite the conditions. But I’ll be honest, I wasn’t looking too pretty at the end, felt like a panting dog and just wanted it to be over.  I almost considered taking a walk break around 18.5, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it, I’d seen those 8:50s and wanted to keep it that way.

So that’s my adventure.  Once I got home, I stripped down and parked myself in front of the fan, standing on a towel to sop up the dripping water, then left watery footprints everywhere as I dragged myself to the kitchen for a glass of water.  You’d think I lived at the city pool.

Anyway, it’s over. Like I said before, I hope this isn’t my last 20, but I only have one more opportunity for one and that’ll be 2 weeks before the marathon which can go either way.  Depends on how the Philadelphia Distance Run goes next weekend, if I don’t require any extra recovery.

So yeah…big race next Sunday, a half-marathon!  While I won’t be fully tapered, this will be a looser week, so hopefully I can manage a great race.  But now, must take a long shower and wash the salt crust off, happy in the fact that I completed one of the toughest runs this training cycle.  Later, my lovelies!!  And I hope you also had a productive, if not soaking, long run this weekend.