An interesting and informative week for me. First, I went back to the orthodics and am happy I did. My lower back and hips, as well as my knees and ankles, were beginning to really hurt. The fact that I've spent the past 25 years with support for my feet is not lost on me. My body was not happy about the change to minimalist running sans inserts. The results are the same as in 1987: instantly no pain. Feet feel better. No longer an issue.
I ran 26 miles this past week. Some of these runs were pretty good, and some were not. In fact, the long run was one of the worst I've ever experienced. Heat, humidity, fatigue, nutrients, gear all played a role it seems. Chalk it up to another learning experience.
Monday was 4th of July and I went out from home on a five mile neighborhood run. Started out feeling ok, breaking in new hydration belt. There are lots of hills around here, but I felt confident. It was 3pm when I set out and about 88 degrees and sunny. Not good conditions for running. First couple of miles were ok, 8:51, 8:53, 8:48 pace. Last two miles were back up hill and I was spent. I limped back at 10:12 and 10:46 to finish at 47:30 or 9:30 average pace.
Tuesday I ran just under 3 miles to pick up my car, which was being inspected. The car was rejected, so I've got to do this all over again this week.
Wednesday was another five mile run day. Once again I chose to run at 3pm and it was a bad mistake. Quantico was under black flag conditions, but three of us went out anyway. I actually didn't feel too bad during this run, but it was tough. It's an out an back trail run through the woods and hills aboard the base. Finished at 47:40 for about a 9:30 pace. Average heart rate was a whopping 166 for this. All the mile spits were clustered around 9:30 (9:19, 9:11, 9:30, 9:55, 9:41).
Friday's run was terrible in every way. Hurts to recall! Set out at 11am and it was very humid. I thought it was going to rain, and figured I'd be able to escape some of the sun's effect on me by being out under the cover of clouds. Not the case at all. I also didn't realize that my body was probably still recovering from the previous afternoon's run. I took my new hydration belt with me filled with water, had two Endurolyte pills with me and 1/2 of a Nature Valley Peanut Butter Crunchy Granola bar. I failed to find any GUs the prior day while looking at the PX aboard the base. Figured I'd be fine without GUs on a little 11 mile run.
First couple of miles passed easily enough at 9:10, 9:12 pace. Mile 3 was 9:56 as I stopped for a drink of water. I faced a steep hill next, and suddenly my legs felt as though made of lead. At the same time, my stomach felt pretty gross, and I was drenched with sweat already. All of this forced me to reconsider the super steep hill and I doubled back to a water jug on the side of the road to refill my bottles. I adjusted the hydration belt as I though it might be too tight and perhaps causing me the stomach pain. I then noticed one of my bottles was missing, so I had to go find it. After I squared myself away I started jogging easily. Mile splits for 4, 5, and 6 were an abysmal 12:26, 12:29, and 11:26. At around mile 6 the wheels came off. I struggled to walk/jog the rest of the way home. Finished up at just over 2 hours. Not a good day.
Saturday I took the day off and got a massage, which was awesome.
Yesterday I did 3 miles in the afternoon. Again, very hot and humid, but a strong run in just under 26 minutes for a 8:38 pace.
Today is going to be hot again, and I need to get out for 6 miles. Not sure exactly how I'm going to approach this yet. I definitely need to get out early for anything longer than 5-6 miles. This is the plan going forward. The long run is only 8 miles this week, as it's a step back week, but next week it's 13. I need to be smart about that one and get up and out the door early before the weather crushes me. All this heat and humidity running will benefit me in the long run, but I can't continue to let it beat me up.
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