In The Long Run

No run today.  Nate had a rough time in the heat at Zane Grey yesterday.  Although he finished (only 84 finishers out of 126 starters), it took several hours longer than anticipated. We had a hotel booked in Flagstaff and got there after 11pm.  It was a long day, I had been up since 3:30am.  I planned to run around Flagstaff in the morning before we headed home, but I just couldn't get up.  Planned on running when we got home, but we took a last minute detour to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon which resulted in a late arrival home.  It was worth it, though.  So stunning.

Slog around Liberty Park.  Just felt off, probably due to the 12+ hours in the car yesterday.  

Tuesday Night Trails.  Usual run on the BST.  Not loving the heat.

Another crappy run, seems to be the theme of the week.  I haven't felt good on any run this week, but today was a real struggle. The SLCTC group was meeting at Liberty Park so I ran from my house to meet them. The plan was to run with them and then run home from the park for a nice 9-10 mile run. I didn't feel great on the run to the park, but I thought/hoped having people to run with would help. Instead I kept getting slower and slower and ended up by myself again.  I was running 11+ minute miles, but breathing like I was in a 5k race. And I was overheating and felt dizzy. The run went right by my house so I stopped.

I haven't done any of my planned runs or workouts this week and I think I will just run 5 or so easy miles tomorrow and Friday and hope I feel better by Saturday.  I am planning to use the WRC 30k on Saturday as my last long run before Ogden with the hope of running the last 8 miles or so at goal marathon pace.  

Thursday Night Trails on the BST. Nate wanted to run trails, so even though it was a longer run than I wanted today, I let myself be talked into it.  Still felt blah, but much better than yesterday.

Talked myself in and out of running multiple times today.  Decided I should get out and enjoy the cooler weather.  Ran a nice, easy 2 miler around the neighborhood.  Actually felt good, but I'm sure I was going slower than normal (no watch).  I hope the feeling good part carries over to the 30k tomorrow.  I'd love to get a nice, long run in with a strong finish.  I don't care about pace, I just hope to feel better than I have this week!

I used this race as a long run for Ogden.  I struggle doing long runs by myself and none of my running buddies are training for anything long right now so I've been on my own.  It's also nice to not worry about access to water/gatorade/gu.  I haven't felt great this week, so I was worried about this run.  I decided that I would run slow and try to enjoy it and finish strong if I could.  Things actually went really close to plan. My garmin recorded 18.76 miles for an average pace of 9:36 (It's hard to run the tangents on this course because it is not closed to traffic).  I stopped several times to use the bathroom and walked through each aid station to drink. Sometime after mile 15, I realized that I felt pretty good.  My breathing was under control and my legs felt ok, so I increased the effort and tried to pass as many people as possible.  Only one person passed me in that stretch and I reeled her back in right before the finish line.  My last 2 miles were sub-9.  I don't think I've ever finished a long run strong like that so I am happy.  The run overall was a bit faster than my usual long run pace (9:45-10:15), but I felt much better during and after than I usually do.