SAT, 7/25/2015 Long

I was scared that my back would be hurting this morning, but it wasn't.  I didn't take anything last night, because I drank some wine.

Normally, I start my long run with my DH, but his knee is swollen, so he decided not to run with me this morning.  I ate a bagel, had coffee and drank 16 oz. of water.  I took a Detrol LA, an asthma pill, and an electrolyte.  Are you supposed to take an electrolyte before you run?  It took forever for me to get out the door.  The clothes that I had decided to wear were uncomfortable when I warmed up, so I had to change them.  I had to go to the bathroom over and over.  I got worried because the frequent bathroom trips were dehydrating me.  Maybe I was nervous just thinking about doing such a long run.  I don't know what my problem was, but my stomach was upset.  I wore the older Cliftons for this part of the run.  I would love to somehow get 500 miles out of those shoes.  It isn't going to happen.  The weather was overcast when I set out, but I could tell it would be sunny before I finished.  I kept a pretty good pace on part one.  I ran into some friends on a downhill portion and stopped and chatted for a minute.  The overall pace was 8:53 which is about as fast as I can expect.

When I got to the house, I took entirely too long.  I drank 8 oz. of coconut/pineapple water.  It is better than plain coconut, but still nasty.  I probably had 4 oz of water and took and electrolyte pill.  I already had my raisins and electrolyte set up in the bag, so I didn't have to mess too much with that.  I completely changed my clothes and shoes.  I put on the newer Cliftons.  I warmed up again (only .25) on the TM.  All this took at least 20 minutes.

I ran a pretty good pace and ate my raisins at the end of the bike path (turn-around point).  I only stopped long enough to get the raisins down. I tried to do the last 3/4 mile at a steady-state pace.  Interval 13 was at 7:50.  It was a full 1/2 mile and not quite steady-state.  The last interval was only .27 miles, but I did reach the steady state pace of 7:40.  the over all pace pace from the house to the raisins was 8:49.

I thought that I would try steady-state again since I only had about a mile to the hotel, but I lost my desire to try and didn't even make go of it.

I took a little too long at the hotel.  I drank water and took my electrolyte, but I forgot to use the restroom.  As soon as I started running, I thought about it, but it was just too much to turn back, so I kept moving forward.  Of course, it was a struggle to keep in under a 9:00 minute mile, but I just managed it.

I initially thought that I might do a neighborhood cool-down, but I didn't.

Since I didn't have to avoid a dog this time, the whole experience was a little less running.  I almost hit 20 miles last week.  This run was 19 in total.  The total for the week is 55, and I am on track to complete my goal of 200 for the month.  I had no cramping whatsoever, so maybe starting with an electrolyte helps.  My knee was bothering a little the whole run.  My body is ready for a break.