I planned to do some 200m reps followed by 100m rest, but when I arrived at the arboretum I felt like being spontaneous, so I ran as hard as I could for as long as possible (100-600m), then slowed to a jog for a short recovery, and started running fast again.
After a mile and a half of hard running I felt an odd cramp in my upper left side/back, right under the armpit. I had to slow down, and then realized the cramp brought on a bit of asthma, so I could not fully recover in a reasonable time. I kept breathing hard so I walked about 200m, then tried running hard, but it was difficult to do so because I could not get enough air. I walked to the monkey bars and did some strength exercises, by then the asthma had disappeared, so I ran home, alternating fast and slow.
Other than the strange cramp and asthma, everything felt good. My legs were strong and fresh, which is a good sign for Farmdale. If I was running a 5k this Saturday I would skip it, as I can't sustain 6:15 pace during my allergy season (Sept-Nov). But since I won't be running any faster than 8:00 pace during the 32 miler, my lungs should be able to hold up.
I did feel a slight knee weakness when I got home, but it felt better the next morning. I believe the knee is slowly getting better, but high intensity efforts still irritate it, which is probably why I sometimes feel a bit of pain during a race. Even in the longer races where the pace is slow, I am pushing harder than I normally would in training, and this causes the knee to act up. So I am expecting the knee to be a bit bothersome this Saturday, but hopefully like the 50 miler, it will not slow me down or make me quit the race.
I decided that my first 100 mile race will be at McNaughton Park on April 10-11, 2010. I most likely won't finish the whole distance due to the difficulty of the course (lots of mud and hills), but I am looking forward to running as many 10 mile loops as I can.
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