Thursday, October 9, 2008

10/04 Long Run

20.51 miles in 3:13:14 (9:25/mile)

The morning started out with one of those 'best laid plans' kind of deals. Val had volunteered to wash our PT clothes the night before, and my newly dried clothes would be waiting for me at 5 in the morning when I got up. I was shooting to be out on the road by 5:30 since we were going to the Children's Museum to meet some friends at 1000. Once I checked the clothes after taking out the beast, they were as wet as if they had just been put in the dryer. So, start the dryer, get some OJ, get kitted out, check the dryer, feed Toby, realized the anti-critter grate on the dryer vent outside is clogged, check the dryer, fight with Vaseline sine I left my Body Glide at work, check the dryer, realize I don't need to dry the whole darn load, just the 4 items I need, get fed up and put on my damp running clothes, and get out on the road and moving just before 6.

First Lap was done in 1:00:58, a little slower than last week, even though it felt faster. I really felt like I had more energy, I'm thinking it was just having more time to wake up, and maybe more time for the OJ to hit my system. Drizzled on my on and off the while time.

One of the major points to this lap system was so I could make a pit stop at mile 12. Couldn't wait, so I had to find an opening in the trees at mile 5 and squat so the cars wouldn't see me. Thought I had overstretched the sole of my right foot, but it seemed to snap back a after a mile or so

Second Lap (including pit stop and bottles) was 1:00:48. It actively started to rain on me as I came back out, but it only kept it up for a mile or so.

What is the deal with all the peeing on long runs. Am I over hydrated to start with? Or am I drinking too much on the run? Used a mix of GU and HammerGels

Third Lap was much faster at 56:23. Was glad the see the last of the mile long hill that I basically start with. That being said, I'm probably going to modify my next 20 miler to hit it again so it simulates the actual marathon with an ugly hill right around mile 20.

Last leg. Added on the little 1.67 mile loop through a residential area we haven't ever driven through before. Some nice houses. We couldn't live there though. We'd have to keep up with our yard work. :) I was pretty tired at this point, but I could have probably done another couple of miles.

This lap I actually started humming a little. Two Paul Simon Songs, actually. Turns out Little Miss likes Graceland, so we borrowed a 'Greatest Hits' collection from the daycare director and have been jamming out a little. So I'm humming what little I can remember to Boy in the Bubble ("These are the days of miracle and wonder") and Born at the Right Time. Good music for a run. Peppy, but not obnoxious about it.

It's interesting, and I'm certainly trying to keep the 'for me' rule in mind here, but I find it very interesting to read how many people think their 20 milers are soul crushing, etc... I couldn't have gone out and run it again, but it wasn't that bad. I could even say I enjoyed it. I do need to go look up what the indicators are for the runners high, because I'm still not sure I've felt it even on these long runs. That being said, I dropped into a Zen state enough during this run, towards the end anyway, that I 'lost' a couple of miles. Ah.. according to wikipedia: "Endorphins are released during long, continuous workouts, when the level of intensity is between moderate and high, and breathing is difficult" . Apparently I'm not working hard enough to get high. :)

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