Getting back to Boston

Pam's birthday, but needed to get in the long run anyway. So I drove over to run the route Tom e-mailed me, and realized almost immediately that I forgot my gels. Came up with a plan, though, and set out. After about six miles, I called Tyler on his cell (which woke him up, of course) and asked him to bring a couple of gels and meet me in Burns Park. He got there a little quicker than I expected, so we moved the meeting spot from the boat ramp to the concrete bridge. Sure enough, there he was in his van, in his housecoat, with my gels. Thanked him and told him to go home and go back to bed. Which he did.

OK, back from birthday lunch, where we ran into Scotty Thurman and Corliss Williamson, stars of the 1994 national championship basketball team, but that's another story. Back to the run.

So I'm moving along at a decent clip but not overdoing it, kinda cruising. Took a gel at nine miles, took another one at about 15. Then I get to about 18 and, gel or no gel, the gas tank needle is bouncing on E. I kept going pretty well, probably better than any other long run I've ever done, but the legs were dead. Then I got to the top of the hill leading back down to the Surgical Hospital, my starting point, and I'm running dead into about a 15-mph wind. I had forgotten how much trouble I used to have in my long-ago track career running into the wind; the wind around here is so rarely strong enough to be a factor. But today it was, especially after I'd already run 20 miles. But I chugged it home anyway and finished the run in just a couple of minutes over GMT (goal marathon time). Pfitz said a good 22-mile long run should take you just about as long as GMT. I didn't do 25, but I did 21 and probably some change, depending on how accurate the Garmin is.

Overall, definitely my best LR ever. Another source of confidence with 55 days to go to Memphis. Not perfect, but then yesterday wasn't really a rest day with that hike around Fayetteville, so if I'm supposed to do my LR with tired legs, today should qualify. And I have decided that for right now (maybe carb loading and tapering will fix this), my wall isn't at 20 miles, it's at 18.

Pretty routine 8 on the TM tonight. Cruised in the mid-9 range, then threw in seven strides at the end. Surprisingly little aftereffect from yesterday's 21.

By the way, last week's post on why I'd rather do TM runs than go outside could have easily been misinterpreted. There is danger around here for runners, IMO, but it's not from flying bullets, it's from flying cars driven by people who aren't looking for runners. The hills and curves around here look more like a rural area, but the traffic level isn't rural. I'd much rather run in downtown Little Rock at 5 a.m., or even the Central High neighborhood which is frankly semi-ghetto, than run on these blind curves in North Little Rock at 8 p.m. And the trusty blinky light isn't that much help.

The aftereffects of the 21 miles on Sunday hit today, I think. Decided to swap days and run Wednesday's 7-miler today, and quickly decided that was a good choice. The soleus was really barking on the right leg (first time I've had any soreness there) and it took extra stretching plus about 2.5 miles to get it loose. Nothing wrong with tonight's run, just a routine 7-mile recovery run ramping up to just under 9:00 pace.

Now at 53 and counting, with 11 or so miles tomorrow.

Hauled a new pair of Asics Gels out of the box tonight and broke them in on the treadmill -- 11 miles. Not top of the line Asics, but Gels nonetheless, feel pretty good on my feet and PLENTY OF TOEBOX ROOM. I also found a shoe that's a candidate for my Memphis race shoe, a good lightweight adidas model. I'll probably go get a pair in 2-3 weeks in time to get a couple of good runs in them before the race.

Good progression run in the new shoes, ramping up to MP + 6%, then MP, and finally MP plus for the last 400 meters. Finished up in about 98:20 for the 11 miles. No blisters, even though the sock drawer was kinda bare of running socks due to lack of laundry diligence.

Put in my entry tonight for the half-marathon in Conway on the 25th. I'll be able to run, then go back to NLR, shower, rest up a bit and then go to Fayetteville for the football game, and we'll spend the night up there afterward (I think driving three hours back home beginning at 11 p.m. might be a bit much after a 13.1 and a football game).

Another shopping trip tonight, for good, cushioned running socks to replace the pairs that hundreds of miles (and unattended toenails) have shredded. Then a good 7 on the TM, 3/1 progression, Arthur Lydiard style. Had intended to run the final 1.75 at GMP, but felt so good that I cranked up the final 0.50 to well below GMP, probably somewhere between LT pace and VO2 max. Final average pace, 8:42ish. That'll work. I feel like the mileage base is now built to where I can really pound some speedwork in the next seven weeks and accomplish something. First test, of course, is the half in Conway in nine days. I think I'll do the VO2 max workout Monday, push it pretty hard, then ease down the rest of the week until the race.

Got a good night's sleep before I headed out to join the Crackheads. Unfortunately, I think I left my legs in bed. Took for-freaking-EVER to get going. Really didn't get going until 11 miles or so, when the only other Crackhead doing 18 miles caught up with and passed me. I pulled back up beside her and we ran the last six miles or so together, which REALLY helped (so did the extensive downhill in that section, but I ran well with her after the downhill ended). Yet another reason to hook up with the pace bunnies in Memphis: I need someone to run with, talk to, distract me from the pain in my legs, etc.

Ended up taking nearly 3:13 to do 18.2, which is slower than I had planned but a lot faster than I feared when I was stretching my hip flexors at the time Christy passed me on Kavanaugh.

 But I think (and Coach Hobbit agrees) that I've gotten to a back-off point. I need to cut the mileage or I'm going to get hurt -- not a good option with 49 days to go. This week was a bit of a backoff anyway, I'm gonna cut it a few more miles. Probably will still do Conway, but may skip or reduce the VO2 max run on Monday.