Capped off my first 40-mile week with a very good run in the company (most of the way) of Pat Koss. Pat's a good influence on me in that he helps me keep from going out too fast. We started at the River Market, crossed the Broadway Bridge, did the reverse Karrot loop, came back across Broadway, then turned up 3rd and headed for the Heights. Pat twisted his ankle in front of the Blind School both coming and going, got a piece of glass inside his shoe (it looked like someone had gone down the street for about 100 yards breaking out car windows), didn't bring enough water or any carbs. I finally left Pat in the last 2.5 miles; Tom saw him when he came in and said he had the wild-eyed look of someone with low blood sugar. And a twisted ankle, no doubt.
Anyway, after going up Kavanaugh all the way to the Van Buren split, and thus retracing a good part of the Firecracker course in reverse, we turned around and headed back down Kavanaugh to 3rd and back to downtown. As usual, I picked up the pace on the Kavanaugh downhill. We stopped on the Promenade to refill Pat's water bottle, and I left him shortly thereafter, or actually when he stepped on another rock. So my splits for the last three miles, including on the downtown flats, were sub-9:00, which is pretty much what I was hoping for. And I felt much better once I got a gel down around the 9-mile mark. Those things are complete yuck, but they work. I'll take yuck under those circumstances.
Weather was no bargain; it was about 80 and very humid when we started. Saving grace was an intermittent breeze which was particularly helpful as we descended Kavanaugh from miles 8-10.
So, in a training run, I ran 13.2 six minutes faster than I ran 13.1 in the marathon in March. So I guess I could count this as my half-marathon PR, but I won't. I'll save that for Soaring Eagles in October, when hopefully I can knock another 13-15 minutes off my time.
However, the sleep issue has to be resolved, somehow. I went to bed at 10:15 and got up at 4:45, but that does not mean I got 6.5 hours of sleep. I think the five hours I listed above is overly generous, frankly. I just could not get comfortable, I had to get up to visit the loo several times, the room was too warm even with the fan on, etc. I think I finally got some solid shuteye after I got up for the last time at 2:30 or so.
So on to another 40-mile week, after I take Tyler to the theme park for his birthday. I think I'll spend my time at the water attractions getting wet. But first, it's nap time. | 