Breaking the Wall

A.M. Total of 20.5. Started with 0.5 with Jacob. Jenny and Julia did 3 with Sarah. Benjamin had a cold, did not run. After Jacob's run I did my 20 mile course to Bridal Veil and back with some pickups throughout the run. Started with a mile at 0.5  in 5:55 up a small grade and with obstacles. Then at 3 did a mile in 5:44. This one had less adversity, but I would still consider it anti-aided. At about 6.5 did 2 up the Provo Canyon in 11:58. It felt harder than it should have. Then at 10.5 did 3 down the Provo Canyon on my standard tempo stretch. Based on how hard the earlier miles felt I thought it would be difficult to be under 17:00 (5:40 average). I wondered if I would even get that after the first quarter in 90. But then I got going and hit 5:38, 5:34, 5:30, which gave me 16:42. I wanted to run the last 4 hard and started on it. 6:00 pace was a struggle. After doing a mile in 6:15 I was concerned that I might be doing more damage than good if I kept pressing and stopped the tempo 2.5 into the interval while still 1.5 away from the house. After a quarter of jogging, however, I reconsidered and decided to give it an honest push in the last mile. I was very sluggish through the "obstacle" quarter in 96, but then was able to shift gears  and did 87, 87. Before the run I weighed 144.4 in winter clothes. After 140.4. Adjusting to my normal weighing standard I think this would convert to around 143.8 and 139.8. So there went 4 lb in the run. Not much sweating - the temperatures started in the 20s and were in the low 30s at the end of the run.

The crash was interesting. It was not really a crash after all, I think. I was just so mentally exhausted from running alone in the cold for 20 miles, working hard for a good portion of it,  and possibly also from our adventures with sick children and the race on Thursday, that I just did not have the mental energy to battle various course obstacles (tunnels, turns, bridges) on the trail. The last three quarters showed I still had something physically. But I think one thing we do not realise is how much mental energy it takes to keep accelerating back to pace after minor setbacks, and when the physical goes down, the mental goes down with it as well perhaps at a higher rate. So what would be only a minor annoyance when you are fresh becomes a 10-15 seconds per mile knockdown when fatigued.

P.M.  1 mile with Joseph.