A.M. Had some doubts about whether it would be good for my health to run my planned 20 miler, but a prayer removed the doubts. I noticed HR was a little high, but at the same time I was willing to move quicker than slow dragging death from the start, which was a good sign. Forgot to have a drink before the start, but then stopped at Walgreens 1.55 into the run to go to the bathroom and got some water out of the fountain. That did not seem to do much for the elevated HR. But I was feeling decent otherwise and I know that I do have a few heart beats to spare so I was not worried about it. First mile was 7:54, which is quick for me for the first mile. Then a bit slower than 7:00 the rest of the way. The route was from the house to Bridal Veil Falls and back. Uphill going out, downhill coming back. HR was 134 at 7:12, 139 at 6:40 up 1-1.5% grade. Yes, I am a geek and I was taking splits every 100 meters during the easy part of a 20 mile run. I know this is high for me, just not sure exactly how high because I do not run that route often enough. The trail was full of runners and bikers. That made the run more interesting during the easy part, but the hard part was a mix. On one hand it was nice to get occasional cheers and have targets to catch. On the other hand at times I felt like I was driving an ambulance in heavy traffic. Reached the first 10 miles in 1:12:24, and then started running hard. For some reason I had a very hard time finding the rhythm and maintaining it. Did a mile in 5:59, then 5:45, 5:50, and then lost concentration and started going around 6:00. I even thought maybe this was a sign of a problem, and perhaps I should abandon the tempo, but then I thought - 20 miles is 20 miles, it is going to be hard regardless, and the choice is between another 40 minutes of running vs another 50 minutes of running. I decided to choose 40 minutes.
For some reason rocks, twigs, bumps, and turns were really throwing me off. Yes, stepping on a twig is a distraction when wearing Five Fingers. Maybe I am just spoiled by running with Jeff all the time. With him I do not have a choice - find your rhythm after a setback or get dropped. So I am expecting that when he is not around. The encouraging sign was that HR was dropping to 147 from a more normal 151-152 when I lost concentration and slowed down to slower than 6:00. I interpreted it as that my health was fine and it was OK to push, or at least maintain the effort. Then I really lost the rhythm around 16 miles into the run. There were some rocks on the road, not as bad as the last time Jeff and I ran that route (4th of July), but still enough to contribute to the confusion. The headwind did not help either along with some uphill. So I ended up slowing down to around 6:20 and then had a hard time shifting gears. The turns and the bridges later on did not help the cause. The 6:00 guy caught me and left me in the dust. Finally with 1.5 to go I said I've had enough of this 6:20 jogging and gave it a more serious push. After about half a mile I was able to get up to 6:00. And then the momentum carried me and I was going 5:40 before I knew it. So I ended up running the last 0.75 in 4:16 (85,86,85 - 5:41 average). Almost got the 6:00 guy for the last 10, but ran out of road - 1:00:07, total time for 20 was 2:12:31. Afterwards I was coughing a lot. When the respiratory system is not 100% it might still do OK when you are going, but it really freaks out when you stop. P.M. 1.53 with Benjamin, Jenny, and Julia to Walgreens to buy Benjamin Crocs. 14:16. Sarah picked up Jenny and Julia. Jenny did not run more because she was recovering from her stomach troubles yesterday. The Crocs were not wide enough, so Benjamin and I ran back empty-handed in 11:39. 0.5 with Joseph in 5:13.
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