It's been nearly a week now since I had my long run of 16 miles and I should talk about it before I forget it entirely.
I got up early and ate my oatmeal and bagel. That seemed to be enough food for me. However, getting Brent up and going was another task all in itself. Once he was up, he tried putting his new bike rack on his car but it didn't work too well. So he couldn't take his bike. Come to find out, that worked out quite fine.
Off to the park. After doing a lot of research, I found Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park and it sounded like their trails were long enough to make it work without having too much boredom or repetition. We found a parking spot and luckily, we passed a Casino on the way to the park so Brent said that's where he was going to go to hang out in the 2 hours and 40 minutes I thought it was going to take me.
It was kinda chilly out but Brent was nice enough to lend me his long sleeved shirt and said that I could dump it if I get too hot. I also had my gloves and a snot rag with me as well. I had my hydration belt, 2 bottles with water and 2 bottles with red Gatorade. I also had 2 different types of gels with me after the last week debacle with the Shot Bloks.
Off I went, things went well at first. I realised that I didn't have my battery pack for my camera so I ended up holding it for a long time. There was a Diabetes walk gathering up. The first time around I didn't see too many people. It was pretty easy out. There were a few bikers that didn't bother saying anything like "On Your Left" or "Coming Behind You!" Stupid ass bikers.
However the second time around, I started to run into groups of walkers taking up the ENTIRE path, on both sides of the yellow middle line. I was so pissed. There were many times in which I had to cut in the middle of the pack because no one bothered moving to one side after I said something.
Between mile 5-6 I ate my first gel. It wasn't too bad. It was a Raspberry HammerGel. I kept on moving. Things going fine. I had taken off my gloves at this point and tucked them in my belt however, I kept losing one of them and having to backtrack to get it. I had also taken off his shirt but just left it around my neck floating behind me and it wasn't that bad for me to do.
I was watching my Garmin, making sure my pace was steady and watching the Avg Pace to see that it stays around 9:35 or so. Sure enough, for a couple miles there, I was around 9:35! Pretty cool!
Between mile 10-11 I took my other gel. That one didn't taste as good and it was a Strawberry-Banana PowerGel. That's what a lot races use though and I have used in the past. Just gonna keep trying out the different ones.
Here comes the odd part: around 14.67 miles I got a really weird foot thing going on. My left arch was seriously hurting and my right foot started hurting bad too but I couldn't figure out where. But my left one I was most worried about. It seriously felt like my arch had fallen. It was sooo hurting. But after another mile or so it was gone. I'm not sure what happened there unless it was a cramp. I never had a cramp while running before. So that was a first.
At the end, I was back and forth a while trying to get my 16 miles. I saw my Avg Pace keep getting higher and higher but hey, 16 miles! Gotta give me a break somewhere! At one point, I was passing another runner and still in my lane and this kid comes running from behind his group of family and directly into me, making me scream and knocking me off my game. As I scream and he stumbles over me and into the girl that I was passing. It was just bad all over. The mothers just stare at me as I throw my hands up in the air in frustration.
I see Brent driving by, I wave, he waves and then he parks and comes running up to the path and runs the last .6 miles with me. That was nice. I ask what time it was. He said almost 12:15. So not what I was expecting him to say! All in all, I stopped my watch and it said 2:35. Which is 5 minutes faster than I predicted! and 5 minutes is HUGE in running! Come to find out that was an average of 9:44 min/mi which is good for 16 miles! If I kept that up (which I doubt I will) I'll have run a 4:15 marathon!
I didn't get much stretching done afterward since he had to go to his second whiffle ball game at 1p. I had to go to the bathroom too but that had to wait as well. We made it to the diamond at the very end of the first game and I took the liberty to stretch nicely after that on the grass in the sun. Brent also rubbed my poor feet a little bit between innings.
Once we got home, I took a shower. I had plenty of salt on me! Then Brent was nice enough to rub me down with his foam roller. And he quit enjoyed making me scream out in pain. But it was the good type of pain and something I really needed! Holy cow, it hurt but felt so good. And really good when he rolled it over my arches. My poor feet. We later went to Six Flags where there was a lot of walking but I managed to do it.
On Sunday, Brent again rubbed me down and found a huge knot in my left thigh that he just kept rubbing over and over and over. I think he was a sadist at that time because he had such the evil, devilish grin on his face. But I'll tell you what, it worked! My train ride didn't hurt at all.
So now to this week. I have been sick since Monday night. So no running at all since that Saturday morning. I have a 10k race on Sunday and was supposed to do another 6 afterward to make it a total of 12. I have no idea what I'm going to do. Should I run Friday evening to get out the cobwebs? Or run on Saturday morning to give my body a few more hours of rest? I have a great pain in my facial cavities now from sinus pressure. I'm taking decongestants but I don't think it's working too well. I have no idea what to do. I don't know if I'll be able to run at all until this thing clears up. I can barely walk normally. On top of all that I'm coughing like a fiend as well!
Activity| Route: | -- | Elev. Avg: | 450 ft | | Location: | Earth City, MO | Elev. Gain: | +0 ft | | Date: | 10/18/08 | Up/Downhill: | [+114/-114] | | Time: | 09:49 AM | Difficulty: | 2.4 / 5.0 |
| | Weather: | Partly Cloudy |
| 56 F temp; 57% humidity |
| 56 F heat index; winds NE 9 |
| Distance: | 16.00 miles |
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| Time: | 2:35:42 | | Speed: | 6.2 mph |
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| | Pace: | 9' 44 /mi |
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| | Calories: | 1617 |
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 Pace (min/mile) Splits| Mile | Pace (min/mile) | Speed (mph) | Elevation
Gain |
|---|
| actual | +/- avg | actual | +/- avg |
|---|
| 1 | 9' 18 | -0' 26 | 6.5 | +0.3 | 0 ft | | 2 | 9' 42 | -0' 02 | 6.2 | +0.0 | 0 ft | | 3 | 9' 36 | -0' 08 | 6.2 | +0.1 | 0 ft | | 4 | 9' 35 | -0' 09 | 6.3 | +0.1 | 0 ft | | 5 | 9' 22 | -0' 22 | 6.4 | +0.2 | 0 ft | | 6 | 9' 28 | -0' 16 | 6.3 | +0.2 | 0 ft | | 7 | 9' 40 | -0' 04 | 6.2 | +0.0 | 0 ft | | 8 | 9' 35 | -0' 09 | 6.3 | +0.1 | 0 ft | | 9 | 9' 56 | +0' 12 | 6.0 | -0.1 | +19 ft | | 10 | 10' 00 | +0' 16 | 6.0 | -0.2 | -20 ft | | 11 | 9' 35 | -0' 09 | 6.3 | +0.1 | 0 ft | | 12 | 10' 05 | +0' 21 | 6.0 | -0.2 | 0 ft | | 13 | 9' 34 | -0' 10 | 6.3 | +0.1 | 0 ft | | 14 | 9' 48 | +0' 04 | 6.1 | -0.0 | 0 ft | | 15 | 9' 59 | +0' 15 | 6.0 | -0.2 | 0 ft | | 16 | 9' 51 | +0' 07 | 6.1 | -0.1 | 0 ft | | Versus average of 9' 44 min/mile |
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