July 23, 2010
Run: Golden Ponds (20.03 mi @ 08:26)
After yesterday’s post, I started doing my daily blog intake and realized that my friends and competitors are still putting down the solid efforts in prep for the LT100. The real wake-up call was seeing Lucho put down 34 yesterday on a Thursday. Some combination of a great spring and some old fashioned confidence have put me in a mental state which can be best described as “coasting”. I think I am ready but we aren’t running today or even tomorrow. Its 29 god damn days until the party starts. I need to stay the course.
So this morning, I took my busted up hip, threw on my heavier LunarGlides, grabbed a bottle, and a bunch of fuel and headed out into the 90 degree heat. My usual marathon 20 mile loop was an easy choice. I am still not feeling 100% after the sickness earlier in the week but I figured this might just shake it out of me.
Felt pretty great cruising along for the first 10 miles. Took a small break at 10 to eat, refuel and watch the geese. Sometimes those are the moments that I remember about the runs. Just being somewhere and taking a minute to enjoy.
After that, I expanded my loop so I could try and bump into Sydney and Kim at camp pickup. The heat was on at this point. I was out on the exposed road and at about mile 16 my HR just kept going up while I got slower. I wasn’t sweating anymore. I was out of fluid. Only 4 to go. What’s the harm? That 4 sucked. But it wasn’t the worst thing ever. Getting sort of used to running when I am miserable. My hip hurt and I was dehydrated and I just wanted to be done but I kept on motoring. That’s what’s going to get me through the 100.
Came home and jumped in the pool. 10 minutes in the cool water fixed me all up. I drank down one of those new Gatorade #3 things as a recovery drink. Gross. It has milk ingredients it said. I didn’t enjoy it. Thought I would give it a try. Will stick with the choco milk from now on.
Post run part of me wonders how I ever will do that run today 4 more times back to back to hit 100 miles in tougher conditions. But a bigger part of me wonders how the hell I ran about 2 minutes per mile faster than that on that loop back in March or for a full 26.2. Running is suck a mind fuck for me a lot of the time. I doubt what I did in the past and what I can do in the future. Everything sucks and I am slow. I just fell off the curve. Guess there is only one way to fix that. You race.
Wah.
I went 20.03 miles with an elevation gain of 374 feet in 02:49:05, which is an average pace of 08:26. Heart rate average was 142. View my GPS data on Garmin Connect.
