Wow. Just wow. Turned on my computer a few minutes ago and my arms were shaking so hard I could barely type my password or make a note in my handwritten log. My fingertips are still numb. Not sure why all of that is happening, but one thing I do know: I ran 22.2 today and it was BRUTAL. Several reasons for the brutality. One, it's 75 freakin degrees in the Ozarks in November. What the heck is up with that? Two, I ran a new route for me. Online description said there was 2.75 miles of path and 2.75 miles of trail, total of 5.5. Well, what is a trail? Is it flat, packed gravel like in Lincoln Park in Chicago? Is it just a dirt path through a field? Or is it rocks, ruts and roots? You guessed it: Rocks, ruts and roots. I had planned to run four laps of the total trail for my 22 miles. Lap 1 changed that plan quickly. I I figure the two-plus miles fr RR&R used as much energy as at least three miles of path, maybe more (and that was the warmest and windiest time of the run too). Revised plan became one full lap, three trips back and forth on the paved/flat gravel sections to finish the 22. And even that posed problems. I hadn't eaten enough for one thing, and two gels and a bottle of Gatorade did not correct the caloric deficiency. I was unloading plenty of electrolytes, too, as the dried sweat on my shorts when I stopped at 16 miles showed, and the left calf started going into the familiar twitching that plagued me at Memphis and Newport, fortunately stopping short of full-blown cramp. But if I'd tried to go 23 or 24, I bet there would have been some humongous golfballs rolling around in my gastrocs. I also suspect another part of the problem is that it had been only about 114 hours since I finished my 20-miler Sunday night, and about 45 hours since the hard interval run on Wednesday. Not enough recovery time, in other words. Anyway, it's now taper time. Work out some kinks tomorrow to cap off a high-60s to 70-mile week, than start the 28-day sharpening phase for Memphis. And hope it's not 75 degrees on December 5 in Tennessee. | 