18 miles in 3:04:25 (avg pace 10:15 min/mi). Problem is, that's not how long I was out on the path for. It was probably closer to 3:30 or so. Knowing I started sometime after 9a and ended at 1:00p doesn't help.
I looked at the weather this morning and everything looked fine.
I decided to go with my UnderArmor Cold Gear wear (not my Hot Gear). So I had on my tights, and my turtleneck shirt. I also wore my fleece hat to keep my head and ears warm instead of my visor because it's so overcast I won't need it. Last minute I decided to bring my Target Champion running jacket to wear until I got up to the path. I'm glad I did for I wore it on the run as well. It was a bit cumbersome to wear it over my hydration belt but it had to be done. Around mile 2 I regretted bringing it, around mile 10, I was glad I did. It was snowing for the first half of the run.
Problem was that I didn't look at the wind factor on the far right. I only paid attention to the temperature. I got out there and I could feel the wind. Hmm, OK, well, it seems to be coming from the west and it'll die down as the day goes on. 9 miles out there. Turned around, BAM, a force of wind totally knocked me back. Uh-oh. I'm 9 miles from my car. I should NOT have done this.
I let this friend know every time I go for a run in case anything happens and I don't text him when I'm done, he knows something's up and to go contact someone. He said that if I ever get into trouble I could call him and he'll come pick me up. Problem is that now I want to rely on him all the time. Today was one of those days that I thought about it, I really did.
I carried on with my run though. By this time the ball of my foot was crying out. Unfortunately, this second half, I stopped a lot. I even walked a lot too. I tried walking instead of stopping but it still put pressure on my foot. So I stopped that and just went with stopping and rest my foot, not standing on it and then running agian. You'll be able to see all that once I upload the Garmin data with my other laptop which I'll be getting on Tuesday evening. Then once I got over like 13, I was running 1/2 mile and then stopping, then running 1/2 mile and then stopping. I tried changing up my stride, thinking that maybe something with the way I take off or land on my heel but nothing seemed to help. Maye by that time it was too late. The last .7 miles I did all in one take though. Whoo doggies.
The wind made me stop a few times. OK, a lot of times. When you're tired and weak any strength of wind will knock one over. At one point, around 3.5 miles LEFT, I had to bear down and force to go through it, it was very tough out there. I couldn't understand also how it was getting COLDER. It was supposed to warmer throughout the day. Again, if I would have seen it, the website would have told me why it was getting colder, the wind was picking up by about 5mph! Towards the beginning of the second half there wasn't that much trees surrounding the path so no protection from the wind. In the last mile left there is also this part that is wide open, no trees just little wild weeds. I had to barrel my way through that as well.
It was just downright cold out there all the time though. I could see my breath the entire way. In the second half, I put my gloves back on and had to curl up my hands inside my gloves around mile 14 because they were so cold. My nose ran like I was supposed to, all the time. My gloves & jacket sleeves are covered in snot now. My cheeks were frozen too. I should have brought a neck gaiter but I didn't think of the WIND. My eyes were bloodshot terribly when I ended, they were also very very dry. When I blinked in the second half, my vision looked funny.
Also, there was a problem with my left foot and that tendon. I managed to fix it by moving the tongue over to the side so that it wasn't on top of that tendon. But at one stopping point, I readjusted my shoelaces and it started to hurt again. So I adjusted it again but it still felt funny. I dealt with it.
This path that I run on for my long runs is a limestone path, not the greatest. I'm always getting tiny rocks in my shoes and when you're done with a few miles those tiny pebbles feel like boulders. Today was definitely no different since my left shoe was very loose at the top to let that tendon breathe. Plus, it's so out and back, 9 miles one way and 9 miles back the same way. So boring. Though I did see a squirrel carrying a tiny little ear of corn across the path and scampered away when I came by. When I came back, the ear of corn was still there, a few kernels missing. :-)
At one point, I started to break down and cry and scream at the wind "Why won't you go away!!!" I was so angry. I wasn't feeling bad in terms of energy or cramps. Just my feet and the wind was giving me a hard time. I had a Gel at mile 6 and another one after 12. Drank both with water and also in between those times had Gatorade. Grape Gatorade takes like Grape Kool-aid, I like it! This foot thing is starting to worry me though. I hope that the doctor can find something wrong with it and fix me. I don't look forward to running anymore.
20 miles is next weekend. I think I'm just going to do 5 miles out and 5 miles back, 5 miles out and 5 miles back. Just in case anything happens though I hope I won't be tempted to quit when I see my car. This will also help me with doing gel intake; a total of 3.
Now tonight for 6 hours I have to stand on my feet and volunteer at a fancy black tie dinner for the Foundation at the college. I have to wear nice black slacks and a white shirt. I will wear my trainers though. I will not wear any sort of heel. I don't care what they say. Why did I volunteer for this??
I also recommend not crying the night before a big run or the morning of either. It doesn't help with the energy and the disposition for the run.
Activity| Route: | -- | Elev. Avg: | 875 ft | | Location: | Sycamore, IL | Elev. Gain: | +0 ft | | Date: | 11/08/08 | Up/Downhill: | [+285/-285] | | Time: | 09:25 AM | Difficulty: | 3.3 / 5.0 |
| Distance: | 18.00 miles | | | | Time: | 3:04:36 | | Speed: | 5.9 mph | | | | Pace: | 10' 15 /mi | | | | Calories: | 1821 | | |
 Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits| Mile | Pace (min/mile) | Speed (mph) | Elevation
Gain |
|---|
| actual | +/- avg | actual | +/- avg |
|---|
| 1 | 9' 13 | -1' 02 | 6.5 | +0.6 | +23 ft | | 2 | 9' 26 | -0' 49 | 6.4 | +0.5 | +7 ft | | 3 | 9' 46 | -0' 29 | 6.1 | +0.3 | -10 ft | | 4 | 10' 14 | -0' 01 | 5.9 | +0.0 | +10 ft | | 5 | 10' 04 | -0' 11 | 6.0 | +0.1 | -13 ft | | 6 | 10' 14 | -0' 01 | 5.9 | +0.0 | +3 ft | | 7 | 10' 15 | +0' 00 | 5.8 | -0.0 | 0 ft | | 8 | 10' 58 | +0' 43 | 5.5 | -0.4 | +9 ft | | 9 | 10' 28 | +0' 13 | 5.7 | -0.1 | +42 ft | | 10 | 15' 11 | +4' 56 | 4.0 | -1.9 | -43 ft | | 11 | 12' 25 | +2' 10 | 4.8 | -1.0 | -10 ft | | 12 | 19' 44 | +9' 29 | 3.0 | -2.8 | 0 ft | | 13 | 14' 23 | +4' 08 | 4.2 | -1.7 | -3 ft | | 14 | 12' 42 | +2' 27 | 4.7 | -1.1 | +6 ft | | 15 | 16' 59 | +6' 44 | 3.5 | -2.3 | -4 ft | | 16 | 13' 43 | +3' 28 | 4.4 | -1.5 | +10 ft | | 17 | 11' 39 | +1' 24 | 5.2 | -0.7 | -10 ft | | 18 | 11' 45 | +1' 30 | 5.1 | -0.8 | -17 ft | | end | 9' 43 | -0' 32 | 6.2 | +0.3 | -3 ft | | Versus average of 10' 15 min/mile |
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My 8 mile run was great this morning! I had a bagel before I left. Yay food!! Good weather, good company and the pace was not so bad after all! Average pace of 9:55 min/mi. You'll see in my stats that the pace kept going downhill but I knew I couldn't keep that fast of a pace. And then when we started going west, where the 20 mph winds were coming from, that slowed me down a whole lot, especially near the end when I was tired and
