Yesterday, I went for my weekly long run. I was camping with the family at a state park near Clinton, New Jersey. They had a triathalon there the next day. I decided to run nearly the entire route that they biked. I cut it a bit short and ran 13 miles instead of 14.
We drove the course the day before. Although it looked challenging, I'm not one to back down from such ventures. It included a very steep hill in the middle portion, but other than that was either flat or rolling hills.
The run was much tougher than I planned, but still very rewarding. It was a lovely setting with some beautiful old farm houses as well as some fine wooded areas. The weather wasn't so nice as it was cloudy and cool with a light mist to light rain throughout.
I started off at what I felt was a relatively easy pace. Getting off the main road in front of the park entrance seemed like an eternity. It was about 3 or 4 miles long and had very narrow shoulder. That made for some tense moments. I always find it more difficult to run when you don't have a good feel of where you are going too and that was certainly the case here.
After finally getting on to the second road, I was relieved. That was short lived though as the next road was a fairly busy two lane highway. It had a lot more shoulder, but a steep camber as well. That made running very uncomfortable. Add to it, that I was carrying a full water bottle and things weren't easy.
The water bottle made it tough as I found myself rarely moving the hand that was holding the bottle. Instead, all the work was being done by the other hand. I did switch the bottle hands about every five minutes. If I'm going to continue using the bottle, I'll have to get used to it and not throw off my form so much.
As I hit 4 miles or so, things got tough. I hadn't hit the steep part yet and I already felt exhausted. I eventually made it to the hill. I decided at that point to use a GU Energy Gel. Although it didn't work right away for the hilly portion, it did eventually help. I actually walked for a few minutes as I took the gel. That was big help to allow me some recovery time.
I took on the hill and it was very steep and pretty long. I pushed through it though and made it to the top, albeit at a slow pace. After that, it was a mixture of up and down segments. I felt good during some portion and dizzy and exhausted at other times. Overall, I did feel stronger after the energy bar though.
I eventually headed back to the main highway on the return home. On the way back, I was on this road much longer this time. It seemed like forever. I was wondering when I'd even hit the portion that I ran earlier. My parents gave me a bottled water during that segment and it was a big help as I was nearly out of gatorade.
I again walked for a couple minutes to drink the water. This portion was a fairly sharp dowhill. My legs and feet were really feeling it and becoming sore. The rest was much needed.
I continued back to the main road and lumbered back towards the campground. I eventually stopped and walked 5 more minutes for one final time. That was a big help because I was getting very sore. After that, I felt awesome coming into the final stretch. I pushed pretty hard down the narrow shoulder and finished strong.
I only ran 1 more mile this week than last week's run, but it took me an additional 20 minutes this time around. It wasn't a recording breaking day, but the challenge of the hills made it one to remember. It'll be a big boost to my training too.
I knew I could use more hill training and some more speedwork, but didn't appreciate how much I needed until this run. I'm going to incorporation some short hill sprints in after my workouts. The first one will probably be tomorrow (even though it's my rest day). A book I'm currently reading discusses the importance of hill workouts.
Even though I had to walk a little, it was so rewarding to finally finish. I had been complaining about how easy my training had been to that point. That workout was just what I needed. This week, it'll be back to more typical workouts with the additional of the short hill sprints. This will be a big help to me as the Lancaster Half Marathon should be pretty hilly.
I'm looking foward to another good week of running as I continue to get stronger. I am happy that I made it through this one and I feel much better for it.
13 miles - 2:04:06 (9:33 pace)
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