Fueling up for the long run

It's Saturday afternoon, it's been a long warm week and I'm just sitting around keeping cool, drinking fluids; water, OJ, coffee and now beer ;-) Notice how the bad (but oh so good) diuretic drinks are nicely balanced with the good fluid replenishment type drinks.

It's been a rather quiet day here. I was up early, for a Saturday, and on the road by about 830 for my scheduled easy 8 miler. Temps were warm for so early in the day here at the mid 20ies already by 8am but this is nothing compared to what runners put up with in southern climes and certainly nothing to complain about after the long cold winter we had. That seems like so long ago now... The run went smoothly though I started slow and was feeling a little depleted after the struggle that was Friday's run. Went around town following various trails and paths that were well shaded early in the morning and finished up with a series of 8x100m strides that were a bit sloppy and on the slow side. This is a problem with waiting till the end of a run to do these little speed-ups. Some coaches recommend doing them in the middle of the run after getting warmed up and when still feeling fresh. Personally, the accumulated miles are having an effect on the legs and it's a wonder I can get any speed out of them at all so I just try to speed things up a bit.

Rest of the day was spent staying cool and doing a few chores including some painting in the basement. We've been in this house for almost 17 years and there are still unpainted surfaces, would you believe? Point in case is our laundry room floor which was covered over with piles of accumulated 'stuff'. Moved the 'stuff' out to the garbage and then got with the painting. We're also doing this because our old washer finally died and the space under it was barren of paint.

I should also do an update on the horror show that was Friday's run in the heat of the day. The temps were near 30C with no clouds and no shade or wind and I thought it would be manageable 12 miles at a slow easy 8:30 pace using Mr V as a guide and pace setter. Boy, was I wrong! The run started OK but by about the 1/2 way point I was running from one shady spot to the next. At this point Mr V started to pull away as the oppressive still heat began to get the better of me. A few walk breaks and a water stop at the town center helped keep the heart rate under control. I also did a mail pickup where the clerk handed me my package at arms length while holding her nose with the other hand (not really but it was close to that). The last few miles home were as slow as I've ever run with walking on the hills and the pace was barely even a slow jog. I didn't even make it to the planned 12 miles and finished with about 11.5 with an overall pace of 8:50! It was so nice to get home and to then cool off by getting into our little fish/garden pond. This is a perfect way to cool down the legs as well as the rest of me. I can sit on the ledge with the water up to my chest and relax as the goldfish swim between my legs.

So tonite I'll continue to hydrate and prepare for Sunday's early morning 20 miler. Total for the past week was 73 miles over 10:00 hrs on the roads as the schedule rolls along. Have a good remaining weekend everyone!