Running Chick

I had another seventeen miles on the schedule on Saturday morning. I was more than a bit apprehensive heading out the door because of last week’s disaster.  A stop at the local watering hole on Friday night earned me a running buddy in the morning, though, so I was happy about having company to get me through the tough later miles.

I’m sporting my new Brooks Glycerin 10s, the flashy black and lime green version.

My feet bothered me so much after last weekend, that I ordered them right away.  I can’t seem to get more than about 230 miles out of a pair of shoes, it’s depressing. Fortunately, these were on closeout from Running Warehouse (the best online running store ever!) and I found a 15% off coupon, so they didn’t end up being all that expensive.

While I’m on the subject of things I use, the Nathan Trail Mix 2-bottle hydration belt is what I use for long runs, but I’m fining that I’m running out of fluids before my run ends so I just ordered the 4-bottle version. Anyway, I typically carry two flasks of Nuun, tons of Sweedish Fish and fig bars.  I’ve not been using gels for the last several weeks because they decided to declare war with my stomach. I religiously wear my ProCompression socks during long runs (and after).  I don’t get any lower leg achiness or next morning tightness at all when I wear them.  I wish I would have discovered them a few years ago. I just started experimenting with electrolyte tablets (S-Caps). I took one on Saturday and I didn’t die, so that’s good.  I did notice a lot less dried salt on my skin, so it must have done it’s job.

Anyway, Saturday. I ran to the bridge and picked up G and we ran out to McLain Park.  We maintained a fairly brisk pace to Hancock Beach where I stopped to top off my water bottles.  Onward & upward, though what seemed like a million miles of construction on M-203, but the traffic was minimal.  Josh drove out to to the park (he was our shuttle home) and biked back to meet us.  He had six miles on his schedule so he ditched his bike and ran with us for the last miles.  Around mile 15 my quads started to get painfully tight and I felt like I just need to stretch them out, so I told the guys I’d meet them at the park and took off.  My last two miles were just under 10:00. They felt much better after that and I contemplated going for 18, but then Josh & G showed up and I was saved from my insanity.  We stood in the very, very cold waters of Lake Superior until I couldn’t feel my feet anymore (approx. 5 minutes) and then hung out on a park bench until Josh returned from his run.

Compared to last week, this run was a victory.  I ran out of water (boo) and had one unscheduled bathroom break (boo), but outside of that, it was pretty good.  However, I will not call these long runs easy because they definitely aren’t. Each one is a struggle, both physically and mentally.  I’m sort of dreading these next few weeks, because my mileage just keeps on going up and I keep on asking myself what in the heck I’ve gotten myself into.  I like running and all, but holy shit this is a lot of running.  Last year, I got so burned out during the big miles phase of my half marathon training that I had to do a 50% cutback week to stay sane. So I’m trying really hard to stay positive and roll with the ups & down of running this many miles to avoid the same problem this year.

Weekly recap - 34.30 miles @ 10:40. Monday, 5 @ 11:21 (Tech Trails with Josh & Zoe), Wednesday, 8.33 @ 10:37, Thursday, 4.01 miles @ 9:54 (3rd mile was 8:55) and Saturday, 17 @ 10:40.