It was definitely too good to be true as the unseasonably nice weather finally came to an end this morning. This change for the worse coincided with my long run and conditions continually deteriorated as the run went along. Started out barely at the freezing point with a light rain and strong NW wind of 15-40mph and did a 6mi loop of the town. It was pretty quiet for 9:00am on a Sunday morning and only saw a couple of walkers and one other runner, Lisa who was doing the loop in the opposite direction. We both agreed it was a nasty day!
Did a quick stop for more gatorade at home and then attempted to run out of town along the highway but the temps were now dropping with ice pellets and freezing rain. The road surface was turning to black ice making me afraid of traffic losing control in my general direction. Each step felt like my foot was slipping backwards slightly, almost like running on ballbearings or a treadmill, especially on the uphills. So...decided to change the route and stay in town running back and forth along the various side roads and trails and to just go by the total time elapsed to make up the required 20 miles.
Man! I coulda used some company today but it was a good thing that both Andrew and I stayed close to home with the treachorous road conditions. However, I didn't feel alone, thinking about my fellow bloggers and what to say in this post kept me going. There have been some interesting posts in blogworld lately about the evolution of and whys and wherefores with running blogs. I'm not much of a writer but I like to blog about my running and read what other runners are doing and going through in their attempts to reach various goals (or not). Being a somewhat isolated way off here in the boonies, having a blog also helps to keep me motivated and honest about my running. It's much like having a virtual internet refrigerator with your plans and activities posted for all to see.
Back to the run... the 2nd half was alot tougher with more wind, ice pellets that felt like frozen bb's, but slightly better footing which improved from black ice to crunchy ice bits. Kept zig-zagging all the side streets which kept me out of the wind for the most part. However, the legs and body complained more and more as the effects of the weeks miles were taking their toll. Perhaps it was a little bit of payback after having such an unexpected nice runs on Thurs-Friday but the glycogen stores were very low by the end despite 64oz of gatorade and 1 gel. Finished the approx. 20 miles in just over 3hr with final thoughts about Lydiard Mike who would have finished his Phoenix marathon over 20 minutes earlier! Hoping he had a great run and looking forward to his post.
Total for week 5 of the 18 week road to Boston was the planned 70 miles in 10hr 3min of running. Missed some strides and tempo pace effort but got the miles in at least. Now looking forward to the upcoming recovery week of 'only' 62 miles before going on to the next phase of the plan. So far so good with no major complaints, just have to stay healthy and pray for spring.
7 comments:
Mike! Missed you out there today. Luckily, Jonathan A. came out for the first time and did 17 with me on our loop. Wind was a factor for 10 miles then we turned out of it. Didn't start raining until 12 miles or so and sleet didn't show until mile 15 - 16. But when it changed over it changed over. What a slow crawl back to Eastport. Had to stop on the reservation to wipe the wipers and the anti-lock brakes wouldn't let me stop! Then on causeway #2 onto the island the wind caught me broadside and I had to do some tricky steering to stay in my lane. I was lucky to have done the run just as it got bad. I was wondering if you'd get out this morning. Glad you did!
Glad you made it back safely. My daughter was on the roads today as well and said it was bad! See you in a week?
It's never fun when winter returns. It makes a 20 miler seem like much more.
Ah yes the snow returned to us overnight as well. Thankfully I did my running yesterday.
Next time you're looking for company on your run stick something pink in your pocket and pretend I'm there trying to keep up. :-)
Ha, yes that's a great idea Dawn ;-)
Do you want to come along to the Boston marathon too?
I see what you mean about the freezing rain. I like following all the bloggers who follow Lydiard. My thoughts were to follow the plan as well, but I need to do more research and I am not sure if it fits into my schedule since I am often running races even though I am not really racing them. Nice job getting the 20 done.
Nice conditions - they remind me of my own runs.
Actually, freezing rain is something I only had to deal with only once this winter. Usually it's just rain and wind.
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