I get a good deal of motivation from reading about other runners long run experiences on facebook and twitter each week. It reminds me that i’m not the only one training for the spring marathon season, and of course depending on where you are in the country, it could be great weather right now for a long run, and in other places it isn’t so great. I do hope that if you did a long run .. or any run for that matter, that it was a good one!
Well, in my part of the country, it isn’t so great right now weatherwise. We avoided a major snowstorm on Thursday and Friday (in my opinion), and although we got some snow in my area (6″ or so), it was nothing like they had predicated (12″-18″) and it actually cleared up much faster than anyone expected (which is a good thing). The snow that did fall forced me to revert to a safer running course today as I headed out for my first 22 miler of the season… but when I got up this morning, we were in a pretty significant snow squall that I thought would never end. It kind of effects your motivation somewhat when you’re gearing up for a long run with snow falling .. but I always tell myself, NO EXCUSES!
I waited long enough to see the squall eventually pass and then headed out on the road, but what I didn’t count on was that 10 minutes into the run, the snow picked up once again. It wasn’t so bad overall, since i’ve run in snow before without issue, but it was beating off my face really hard since the winds were pretty intense, and the worst part was that I ended up getting a little more wet overall than I wanted to since it was sticking to me for a few miles. After about a half hour, it finally slowed down to a flurry, which continued for another hour when the sun finally came out. That wasn’t the end of the snow though … it picked up again towards the end of my run and really stuck to me since I was wet and when I really wasn’t looking forward to it, but I managed to get through somehow.
I knocked off the 22 miler in 3:12, which was about 5 minutes faster than I would have liked to .. but i’m doing better with pace. I only have 4 weeks to go until the Ocean Drive marathon, so i’m really running out of time to get it under control.. I have 2 more 20+ mile runs left before this race..
One unfortunate part that didn’t help the run at all was that I ended up dehydrating as well at around mile 20, but there is a story to go along with why it happened. I always take money with me, wrapped in a baggy, in case I need to stop for additional water along the way, so early in the run (about mile 3), I had a dog running after me out of someone’s yard (aren’t there leash laws?) .. it was just a little kick-me dog, but I reached in my pocket for my pepper spray anyway in case I needed it (if kicking the dog didn’t work). I didn’t have to kick or spray the dog since it went away on its own, but my money fell out of the pocket during it, so I had to make the whole 22 miles with just 26oz of water. I don’t want anyone to think that I hate dogs, I just don’t like when people leave their dogs to run around without leashes.
I had been struggling with some left hip pain on Friday and felt it starting to bother me around mile 12 today. I do think its related to my left quadriceps being tight, because when that started to tighten up and ache, my hip started bothering me too.
So the week has been a good one, my confidence for the marathon next month is increasing after yet another good week of training. My mid week long runs went well, and although I struggled to do real well on Thursday with my speedwork (in the snow again), I got it in. It was crazy on Thursday morning how bad it was snowing when I headed out, but it didn’t stick to the roads hardly at all, but did slow me down.
Tomorrow is another 12 miler of hills .. i’m thinking of mixing up the course a bit, but we’ll see. Its been a week since my major wipeout where I ripped up my knee however its healing up good .. doesn’t need to be wrapped anymore and doesn’t effect my running at all (which is really all that matters)… Hopefully another post tomorrow!