Because I'm headed out of town for a quick overnighter after lunch, I decided to do my long run this morning. The plan was to do 24, but for some reason my alarm didn't go off at 4:45 and I didn't wake up until 6:00. I couldn't justify getting to the office much later than 9:00 or 9:30, so I cut the distance short.
I ran up Emigration over the top and down one mile, then turned around. Back at the top of Little Mountain, I took one more Shot Blok (I had taken 2 between miles 7-8) and used the restroom. I wasn't sure whether I felt up to MP work on the downhill, so I decided to ease into a little faster pace and see how it felt. Fortunately, it felt easy and relaxed as I transitioned to higher turnover in the first mile, so I kept it up, with a goal of doing 8 at roughly MP, then using the final mile as cooldown. Splits looked like this:
Mile 12: 6:08 (AHR 154/MHR 168)
Mile 13: 5:41 (161/165)
Mile 14: 5:51 (166/171)
Mile 15: 5:55 (165/170) [felt myself starting to slow, so I consciously worked harder in the following mile]
Mile 16: 5:47 (171/175)
Mile 17: 5:50 (174/178)
Mile 18: 5:54 (174/177)
Mile 19: 5:56 (176/181)
Cooldown mile was 6:56.
Given that my first attempt to work in MP two weeks during a long run failed (I only lasted 4 miles and popped) and the fact that I did a big workout on Wednesday, I consider this morning's effort a success. A few things to note:
1. I didn't use the Generation UCAN product before the run. Not sure I like it or buy into its claims of providing sustained energy for two hours if you take it 30 min before a run. Maybe it's worth trying as a mid-workout fuel source.
2. I bought two 10.5-oz bottles for the Amphipod belt and filled them with Camelbak's imitation of the Nuun tablet mixture. I also took 2 8-oz bottles with water. Didn't start taking the Camelback stuff until mile 12, but I only had 6-8 oz left by the time I finished. When I did my 22-miler, I only had the 2 8-oz bottles, and I may have been a little dehydrated.
3. Love the Shot Bloks for the texture, flavor (Cran-Raspberry today), and digestibility, but they are too hard to open and eat on the run (and I took them on the easy portion of the run--can't imagine being able to chew them and breathe while running at MP). Still need to find a fuel source that works as well for me as Enervitene did (before it got taken off the U.S. market). EFS was terrible and I still hate all forms of gel.
4. Nearly two hours post-run, I feel surprisingly good. Fortunately, Brooke had replenished the Ovaltine supply at home, so I was able to refuel quickly with a tall glass. Chocolate milk is the bomb.com for recovery.
5. I need more MP work in my long runs. The mental training required to sustain a hard effort for a long period of time strikes me as being just as important as the physical aspect. I felt a little mentally weak at times today, so I need to work on that over the next 4-6 weeks.
6. I know it's cheating, but I weighed myself before getting into the shower (without having eaten anything). Thanks to water loss, I tipped the scales at 151.2. It doesn't count, but it did help me feel like my sub-150 goal may still be achievable. | 