What a great run!
I had the best run tonight!
7.0 miles at the park and I was totally in the groove.
I spent the morning helping to set up a cub scout day camp program for next week, so I ran in the evening. I made sure that I wasn’t eating anything that would upset the tummy and, in fact, I was kida light on food a few hours before. Bagel with jelly one hour away. Power Gel just before starting. I really, really wanted a piece of chicken but I held off knowing that I’d be doubled over 3 miles into the run if I did.
There was a disc golf tournament going on at the park so the lots were the fullest I’ve ever seen them. Big tents with disc golf sponsors in RV’s. Cool if you like disc golf I guess. Despite there being a million people there, nobody was running so I had the 3-mile loop to myself except for a few people walking with dogs.
My right shin was a little sore but not like the other night and, after the first few tenths of a mile, it just shut up entirely. I started at what felt like a 10:00 pace but my watch said it was 9:17 as I passed the first mile, ok slow it down. Mile 2 was 9:35. Mile 2 starts up the hill and I was pleased to see that my HR stayed in the low 150’s.
In fact, as I worked to hold my pace, my heart rate stayed in that same spot for the first 4 miles, which was just marvelous considering I was running outside. I kept thinking about Hal Higdon’s tip for the long run: “Running your long runs too fast is a serious training error!”. Then I remembered running that long run before the 5K at 8:30 pace. Its hard to hold a slow, even pace when you really want to run.
I had a full hour of Garrison Keillor on A Prairie Home Companion during the run. I just love that guy. He was doing his Father’s Day special. Maybe listening to comedy kept my HR down. It moved up to the upper 150’s after mile 5 and only jumped to 161 on the big hill.
Somewhere between mile 5 and mile 6 I was starting to feel fatigued. That feeling I get for long runs that are longer than I’ve run before (or longer than I’ve run in a very long time). My hips started to feel sore. But the cool thing was looking down at the HR monitor and seeing my HR still steady. In the past, when I started getting tired, the HR would start to really climb. I took this to mean that my arobic fitness was still sound, just the muscles were not used to the pounding.
Mile 7 was the toughest, but just concentrating on my steps and my pace and the thought of the last mile kept me on track. In fact, slowing down felt like a complete shock because I had gotten so used to the running feeling. I also discovered that I was now a mile from my truck and the walk back was going to be a little slower than I wanted. Can I count that mile walk into the final total? Final time 1:08:30, 9:47 pace which is right about where I want to be.
I had carried a bottle of Gatorade with me and drank some at each 3 mile point. The course is kinda shaped like a “Q”, and by running the stem part, you can even out the course mileage to an even 3, so it was in this little spur on the track that I could take a drink while doing a quick walk. I wore my sunglasses too because I want to get used to them for running this summer. I found that the polarization in my glasses makes it almost impossible to read my HRM watch.
As I was walking back to my truck, I watched a hot air balloon mess up its landing and bounce down into the park, then up and over telephone/power lines, through the trees (hitting the basket) and then into someone’s side yard. It looked like they were ok and the yard was an old farm house so it was pretty spacious. When I drove by later they were gone.
My hips hurt right now. I did my cold bath when I got home and put extra ice on my right shin. I know that I will be paying for the long run tomorrow, but it was such a great run. Right on pace, good radio entertainment, and a hot air balloon. What could be better? :)
