Perserverance

Perseverance is its own reward and that is what it took to make it through today's run. It was fairly chilly when I started out just before sunrise with a nice stiff wind. I tried not to overdress, but I wish I had, since I was chilled through most of the run.

I set my watch timers to track 11 minutes of 80% followed by 4 minutes of 85%. After warming up for 26 minutes, I set out for the first 4 minute effort. I couldn't really get to 85 percent so I figured I just wasn't warmed up enough. At the next one I had the same trouble and I wasn't really feeling right trying to push for the pace. I decided to take your option 2, and go for a 20M at around 75%.

After running about 7.1 miles, I ran home to take care of some technical difficulties. When I started out I was feeling pretty lousy GI wise and I had a feeling that I passed more than gas at one point. My feet were also hurting me in my Mizuno Wave shoes - the arches are too high.

Fortunately, my tights weren't soiled and a quick swipe with a wet wipe made feel as good as new. I changed my shoes into my nicely broken in Saucauny Grids and started out again. I felt a bit better, but my HR was still not coming up to where I wanted it to be. I think I was just too cold.

After around 2 hours though, I started to feel really good. My HR started to come up and I finally felt like running. Unfortunately, just as I started to run very well, 20 miles had just passed. I could have completed a marathon at I am sure negative splits. Here are the details of the run so you can get an idea of what was going on:

Time: 2:48:00
HR: 138/158
TiZ(155/137): A - 0:03:07, I - 1:41:13, B - 1:03:40
Dist: Approximately 20M
Calories: 2175

Dist Time HR
3.7 33:29 138/154
3.7 33:26 134/148
3.7 31:28 135/147
2.5 21:25 136/148
2.5 20:49 141/153
3.4 27:21 148/158
.3 Cool down