OK, I need to figure this out. Either I've pushed too hard, too fast, or my nutrition really is inadequate right now. Or both. Probably both, in fact. But this morning was a struggle. So much so, that I bailed on my run. The 5 a.m. start brought us 75 degrees and 100 percent humidity, and I did not adapt well at all. By the three-mile mark, I could tell it was going to be a really long run, and by 4.5, I told Pat to go on ahead. The legs never did have any life, and finally at 9 miles, I got back reasonably near the starting spot and faced a choice: Turn left and take a seven-mile loop, or turn right and go back to the start. I took about five steps left, then said "don't be stupid" and turned around and went toward the start. Getting back to the start was about 10.5, then I ran a lap around Lake Willastein, left the start area for a Club Manor-Audubon loop, then did another lap around the lake. All of that got my total up to 13.12 -- almost exactly a half-marathon. I actually managed a decent pace on that last lap around the lake, but all in all this morning was a bonk, to be honest. Even though I know cutting the run short this morning was the right thing to do, I'm still torn between that and wanting to slap myself upside the head for being a wuss. But I think I could have/would have gotten into serious trouble if I'd pushed another five miles: injury, or heat stress, or both (why is it that every time we run at Maumelle, the weather is unfavorable -- usually ridiculously humid?) Now the true test of my obsessive-compulsive nature -- will I go out tonight for another five miles to get my 18 for today? Depends on how the legs feel in five or six hours. Maybe I'll run on the TM while I watch the men's marathon tonight. Next week was already scheduled as a back-off week, possibly a week too late for my legs; I think I'm down for 42 with another 13 next Saturday, but I may back that off some more. I'll try to make sure my nutrition improves during the week to restock the glycogen stores.
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