I had my own little death march today. It started out innocently enough. I had a nice breakfast; loaded up some Clif Shots; packed a cooler for later and headed out to the Celebration of Running 3.0. I took the high traffic sunny route over, leaving the alternate shady route for my return.
It was right on three miles over to Loch Haven Park. It being themed a 70s party, I was not surprised to see Elvis there, a half dozen mullet heads, tie dye shirts, knee length athletic socks, Pink Floyd shirts, flowered dresses, flared pants, etc. Nobody looked stoned though.
I was sweaty and drank some water trying not to bump into anybody dry. I stood around for 15 minutes for the race to start talking to a national sportscaster pal. We lined up in the 8:30 pace area. A former NBA exec showed up incognito and looked like he would be lazy-ing it through the race. Instead of running with me, the sportscaster laid back with the exec, based on their finish time of 30:00.
I went out loose and warm. I kept fairly even splits throughout and never felt tired.
1 - 8:33, 2 - 8:27, 3 - 8:39. FINAL - 25:40
Nothing to go crazy over except it was a PR for 3.0. How often does one run 3.0? Not since Florida high school cross country was 3.0 in 2002. They go 5K now. So I PRed by 21 seconds from November 2000.
Then I stood around and admired people, costumes and had some more water. After awhile I set off to run home. I took the more circuitous route through a shady neighborhood. It was 3.3 miles and I bobbed along at a cool down pace of 10:38. I might have walked a time or two too.
Once home I chugged down some Zippfizz, a Cliff shot and some water. I had 14 miles to cover today and I was only up to 9.3. I set out to follow my five mile route which, at 9:30 a.m., was mighty hot, despite the shady neighborhoods. I walked a lot and ran my end-of-marathon kind of trot. It was good practice. (heh)
My pace for the final 4.7 miles? 13:15. It was brutal; and it's over. Next week includes five 1200s, five miles and 15 next weekend. With the start of school and the usual high jinx I should be a whipped old man by this time next week.
Stay tuned for more whining and wallowing.
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8 comments:
Nice job building a race into a training run...I might even say it is really groovy, but I won't.
Hey, you got the miles in...and the build continues for NYC. It is useful to prepare, mentally, for the long run even a week ahead.
Glad the clif shots work so well for you...I'm taking notes!
You are probably allowed a little wallowing and whining next week after the great effort for these runs!
Great job on fighting the heat. NYC is wonderfully cool at the beginning, and often cool at the finish. No 14's there!
Hey, at least you did your 14 miles! Especially with it being so hot outside. So pat yourself on the back.
I neglected to do my 14-miler today. I've run only twice this past week b/c I've been driving and flying here and yon. My training is falling apart!
"I ... ran my end-of-marathon kind of trot. It was good practice. (heh)?"
I'm afraid I practice that part a little too often. Hopefully your 15 mile weekend will go better than your 14, like mine did.
ohhhh, i have major catching up to do. no internet until the 29th is really going to be painful.
congrats on your 3.0 pr! and hey, welcome to my world of 10:30s and 13s and death marches. and that's for SIX miles!
just keep whistling that song from the movie...
That does sound like a tough one. Sometimes, it's just survival.
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