Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head

Another run, another rain storm. I can't remember the last time I saw the sun during a run. Okay, it was actually last week. I ran the loop, starting at Lloyd Hall and running along Kelly Drive, plus an add on. The whole route was 10 miles.

For the first half mile to mile, I was very slow. My hip was still really stiff. I ran in the morning after running in the afternoon on Tuesday. Additional rest probably would've helped. It really took quite awhile for me to forget about my hip. I even stopped for a bathroom break and it was weird starting up again.

Once I felt better, I ran pretty hard for selected segments. Changes paces has really helped me work my muscles differently. After the sluggish first few miles, I was wondering how I'd ever finish. Luckily, I just stay focused on the short term and getting to different landmarks just up the road. Sometimes, I'll look across the ride and think about how great it'll be to get there in a few minutes. That makes it much more rewarding when I do arrive on that side.

The rain was very light on Kelly Drive, but started to pick up once I got on West River Drive. Combined with the leaves that have now fallen, conditions were a little tricky. There were a bunch of markers every quarter mile along the route and they aligned almost perfectly with my mileage. That was both a blessing and frustrating.

I kept changing paces along West River Drive. I tried at one point to run hard during one segment. I didn't make it as far as I was hoping though. My calf started feeling funny, so I backed off. I probably ran too hard, as I had little gas in the tank for the finish.

I did have energy, but my legs didn't recover from the day before or the weekend's long run. They became very sore and really slowed me down at the end. I felt like I was crawling for the final 20 minutes. I tried to pick it up towards the end, but my legs just wouldn't respond.

It was great to finish though and I just need to battle through this week. Things will get easier after that. This is the most mileage of my training.

I came back to my parents house to watch the D11 and D1 cross country meets at Lehigh. I'll do my 5 mile run here tomorrow morning. I need to find a relatively easy route with minimal hills. I'm a little beat up right now, but 15 miles are now down and only 25 more to go this week.

10 miles - 1:23:59 (8:24 pace)