Saturday Morning Long Run

16 miles in 2:35:27 (9:42/mile)


I'm a little behind getting my post for this one done...

Ran this Saturday morning. Left the house a 6:10, and got to the start point at 6:15. Was a very comfortable 48 degrees when I left, and only a little warmer, at 54 when I got back.


I was a little worried about how bad this run would hurt, especially with adding 3 more miles from last weekend. Honestly, it wasn't too bad. I was pretty effing maxed out when I stopped running, but I didn't think I'd just die at any point in the run. :)


That being said, I don't know if I did it on the run, or if I just aggravated the living snot out of it, but I managed to strain my left grain. I could walk poorly when I was working for Val Saturday afternoon, and I was damn near a cripple on Sunday. I didn't run again till Wednesday, and I seem to be functional, except for a few twinges. Needless to say that, as well as the fact that my Mom is coming to visit and I don't want to have to do a long long run and then got the the Pacific Science Center in the same day, I'm making this a 'fall back' week and am only going to run 10 on Saturday. It'll be a 50% reduction in mileage compared to last week, and will probably be good for me.


I was pretty wiped from the run,which is to be expected, but on Monday Val had commented on the fact that I've been a little snarkier than normal the last few weeks. And while a number of the symptoms of mild depression are similar, I think I've got a mile case of overtraining. I've been pissy, tired, short, munchy, and haven't been sleeping well. All of which are another reason to take this week as a 'fall back'. It's frustrating, even if I know that I've probably been pushing a little bit. I also now understand why some people don't think you should train for you first marathon until you have a full year or more of 'just running' under your belt.

The run itself was pleasant. I hit Silver Lake just before mile 3 and it was amazing. Mirror smooth, and reflecting the sky. After a few minutes a lone duck swam by and broke the mirror with a perfect V. Very pretty. Then looking up the sunrise had turned the sky to a dull rose. A very nice way to start the day.

Worked my way through Mill Creek, around mile 6 I started to need to pee. I was able to suck it up till mile 9, but I finally had to find a discreet spot (twice) and deal with the problem. :) I realized there are really not a lot of good spots to deal with this problem as I run through residential areas.

The fluid pressure relief was nice, but it didn't take away all of the tension in my left groin that I hoped it would. I thought it might have been from having a full bottle on the left side of the belt and an empty on the right, but resolving that didn't help. So apparently I strained my groin running too far (or aggravated it). I also seem to be compensating because I could feel the tension in the arch and ball of my right foot.

The water bottle thing was odd this run. Running early, and having commitments after the run, I knew that I was going to have to do this self supported, which meant 3 22 oz bottles. So, on went the belt with 2 bottles and then I grabbed the handheld bottle too. I'm sure I looked, to the handful of people up and who noticed, like some crazy runner. It seemed to work for the most part. I drank from the handheld, and as bottles got empty I replaced them with a full from the belt. I'd rather get resupplied than carry the handheld though. It throws me off a little bit.

The sun broke through at around mile 8 for a mile or so, then the fog rolled in. I worked my way home in a lightly foggy morning. Perfect for keeping the sun off.

splits:
1 10:16.41
2 9:50.57
3 9:10.22
4 9:49.39
5 9:29.16
6 10:20.03
7 10:09.93
8 8:19.83
9 9:51.04 confused on waypoint(8:23.03 1:28.01)
10 10:17.15 2 pitstops
11 9:39.31
12 9:39.31
13 9:41.20
14 10:08.36
15 9:30.30
16 9:14.52