Yesterday afternoon, Richard informed me that he’d be doing our 12 mile long run with his CamelBak, filled with water and some extra just-in-case shoes as he adjusts to his Merrell barefoots. This of course made me feel inadequate since I had no intention of running with extra weight, so I stopped at REI on my way home from work to purchase one of my own. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any women-specific models in stock, and after trying one on, I knew that the strategically placed straps on the women’s models would be necessary when running for long periods of time. Defeated, I went home and accepted the fact that I’d only be running with the couple of extra pounds that my Fuel Belt would provide. I met Richard and Leif at the Montour Trail this morning and we decided to run three down-and-back miles in each direction to complete our 12 mile run. The first three miles weren’t great for me – my calves were sore and I felt like I was laboring even at a slower than usual pace. When we reached the end of the first leg, we stopped for a minute for some water and I tried to stretch out my calves the best that I could. It seemed to help and I was feeling better on the return trip to our cars, where Richard decided to ditch the pack for the second half of the run. I was secretly thankful that I wasn’t able to buy a CamelBak last night, because I’m pretty sure I would have died on this run if I were carrying one more ounce than I already was. By the time we started the second half of the run, it was getting hot…really hot. Miles 6-9 seemed to drag on forever, even though we picked up the pace a little, and I was extremely happy to see the mile marker that designated our final turn-around. I usually spend the last quarter of all of my long runs talking about the copious amounts of food that I plan to eat later in the day, and I knew that something was wrong when the very thought of food made me feel a little queasy. I didn’t start experiencing that feeling during marathon training until I got into runs longer than 15 miles, and I suspect that today’s feeling of general grossness was heat-induced. At some point during miles 6-9 we lost Leif, and he was waiting for us on our way back with two miles to go. Leif is running the Napa to Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon next weekend, and decided to keep his run at 10 miles today to begin his taper. After a nice little break, he was ready to pick up the pace a little and Richard and I did our best to keep up. The majority of our run was a 9:15-9:30 pace, and we picked it up in the last mile, finishing it in just under 8:30. That was the average pace of our 9 mile run last weekend, but I felt like I was working equally as hard today, which means that the offensive heat and humidity were definitely factors this morning. There is a pull-up bar at the access point that we parked at today, so we finished off the day with a few sets. I was producing such a disturbing amount of sweat that it was a fight to even hold onto the bar. Run details below:
Total Distance: 12.0 miles
Total Moving Time: 1:51:31
Average Pace: 9:17
Elevation Gain: 304 ft
I felt pretty nauseous for a good 45 minutes following the run and struggled to even drink some G2. I stopped at home for a quick shower and did my best to stomach some food and then headed over to Hybrid Athlete for their grand opening celebration. There was a class at 10:00 that I missed…up until about mile 7 or 8, I had it in my head that I was going to make it, but my body told me otherwise in the final miles of the run. Anthony has finished construction on the Crossfit section of the facility now, and it looks amazing in there! I really can’t say enough about how great the workouts are there, and I’m thankful that I have somewhere to go that I feel provides me with the exact type of training that I need for obstacle racing. By the time another hour passed, I finally felt hungry and stopped at Bruegger’s with Chris, Fink, and Megan for a quick brunch. Congratulations to Megan and Fink for successfully completing a Sprint Tri at Moraine State Park this morning!! I am so impressed by triathletes due to my complete and utter failure as a swimmer….I know that I would die in such a race before I even made it to my bike. I’m also looking forward to hearing about Justin’s MAD race this morning, but I haven’t received any updates yet. When I finally got back home, I went to the REI website and ordered this little gem: CamelBak Luxe. By the time next weekend’s long run rolls around, I will be carrying some extra pounds, ready or not! That won’t come until Sunday, though because next Saturday is RUCKUS Pittsburgh!! It’s no Beast, but I’m looking forward to a new and fun challenge with only four weeks to go until I hit the road for Killington! Two weeks into my training, I am a little heavier, a little sleepier, a LOT hungrier…and I’ve never been happier.
