Chad's Runs

I couldn't run yesterday because of work conflicts.  It couldn't be helped.  So I'm going to try and put in a few extra miles on my other runs this week, thus the 10 this morning.  I wondered how I would handle a 10 miler without consciously taking it easy for part of the run.  I took off and got into a groove at around 8:30-8:45.  It was till slower than three months ago, but faster than anything in the last two.  I waited for my strength to weaken a little but it never did, in fact I found myself running below 8 on mile 8.  I never made a decision to push it, it just happened.  I didn't have the strength to keep that pace up on the last two miles but I did run 8:15s on those.  Anyway, average pace was 8:30 and I'm starting to see some recovery from the injuries/blood donation of the last few months, finally.  I'm going to run 7 or 8 tomorrow.  I'm anxious to see how much I have in the tank.

6 crappy miles.  I was planning more but I only had time for 6, which is probably good because it was bad enough as it was.  It wasn't anything I didn't expect, I ran pretty hard yesterday.

6 more slow miles this morning.  I felt quite a bit better then yesterday actually, but not totally my strong self.  I also didn't have time to run as many as I wanted to.  I had an early morning commitment that I couldn't miss.  No for a long run on Saturday.

Failure.  Since I felt so good last week during the 18 miles I ran I thought I'd bump it up some.  I felt wonderful the first half of this run as well.  I felt like I could run for ever and decided to try for 22 miles instead.  I ran east just north of Utah Lake through the farms south of American Fork and Pleasant Grove.  Check out one of the great views I had.  It's hard to see the lake in photo.  So I turned around at mile 11.  Last week I had run 10:30s for the first half and picked it up on the second half running in the low 9s.  I started off running in the mid 9s today and was going to try and match that or even increase it with lest rest time on the way back just like last week.  Just a couple of miles later I could tell that it wasn't going to happen.  I took a gel then at mile 14 and felt better for a bit but then started to have some cold chills.  I could tell I was starting to get dehydrated.  I didn't have a lot of water left with me so I changed my route a little and cut north into American Fork to buy some Gatorade at the Holiday.  I chugged the whole 20 oz bottle and continued on.  West from there you go over the freeway then over a bridge over some railroad tracks.  These are 2 fairly substantial hills, at least the felt like it at the time.  I got over them.  So all of this happened over 2, maybe 3 miles since I took the gel at mile 14.  It sure felt more than that.  I stopped to walk for a bit just after mile 18 and lost my resolve.  I called my wife and told her to come get me.  I can think of two things that would have helped.  The first is a better meal the night before.  I had a steak.  Very delicious but not loaded with energy.  The second is a partner.  I tried to get in contact with my neighbor Richard.  He is running Utah Valley as well, but I couldn't get in touch so I ran solo.  It always helps to have someone drag you along and give encouragement not to quit.