I ran 17 miles yesterday and was disappointed that I couldn't get in more. Today, would've been an off day. However, I am busy tomorrow, so I ran today. The plan was to run twice.
I would've liked a morning run, but I couldn't get up. An early afternoon one would've been nice too, but I was tired and took a nap. I started the first run at 4 PM. I wanted to do a loop. I parked near the WAWA on 25th Street. The short loop here would be about 8 miles. Then, maybe I'd add some more. I had run all the parts of this route before, but never this specific route.
I started off heading toward the Boat Launch. I felt fairly good and it was a decent pace. It was pretty humid and the shade was off and on. I went out with a very solid first mile, at just over 8 minutes.
The pace picked up after that. The road to the Boat Launch is a long and gradual downhill. I was glad that I didn't have to stop at the road crossings for very long. The pace naturally got faster.
With the heat and humidity and the pace, I was breathing fairly heavy in miles 2 and 3. Mile 2 was 7:27 and mile 3 became an even faster 7:12. At that point, I tried to slow myself down. I didn't want to pay for it later.
It didn't really work though. The downhill toward the Boat Launch made for yet another fast mile. I ran mile 4 at 7:14. I thought I might pay for this. As we got to the flat, I started falling off.
The pace was just too much. I was soaked by now and struggling with my breathing. When I drank water, I started to choke a little. I had to slow down.
At about 4.5 miles, I did reel it in a bit. Still, it wasn't actually slow. I just tried to focus on mile 5 and then 6. I slowed to 7:26 and then 7:34 on the next mile.
I was getting closer and closer to Riverview Park, but it was still too far. I couldn't quit though or I'd have a far walk back to the car. I just tried to focus on making it to Riverview and eventually I did.
My problem now was that it would be a big climb to my car. I knew I was suffering too much to pull it off while running and I really didn't want to take a chance and overdo it either. I went out past the path to my car. I ran a short out and back along the path. I then quit the run at mile 7, with a 7:36 mile.
I had a long walk uphill back to my car. That was fine. I thought about running a mile when I recovered, but I didn't bother. It was a good run to find my limit in difficult conditions. I'm still trying to learn how far I can push it.
I rested for a little over 3 hours. I started my second run at 8:30 PM, as the sun was setting. I wanted to run 10 miles, but I'd at least be happy with 8 miles. I wasn't going anywhere, so the plan was to run around the neighborhoods.
I need to practice running at night, for my marathon. This was a good combo of running in daylight and night and seeing how the temperature changed. It was a little breezy again during this run and the temperature dropped, but the humidity got even worse.
I ran shirtless as usual, even if it was going to be dark. I didn't want to wear a headlamp or anything reflective, so I had to be careful. I had to pay attention to cars. I also ran the lightly traveled neighborhood. It wasn't bad.
I started by looping around my neighborhood. That was a nice mile to start. It was a very disappointing 8:57 time however. My legs were a little sore and I did expect this run to be slower than the earlier one. I didn't think it would be that much slower.
I didn't worry too much about the pace though. I just kept on going. The beginning of this run didn't seem too bad. I headed to the neighborhood on the other side of the school. I ran the two out and back sections, to add distance. I needed to add wherever I could.
The out and backs go uphill and downhill. It was nice to go downhill on the main road to the industrial park. By mile 3, I was at least running closer to an 8 minute pace. I added some distance through a small neighborhood.
A biker drove through the industrial park. He had on reflective gear. It was nice to get to mile 4, but I was sweating a lot. My grey shorts were getting soaked. I couldn't believe how much farther I had to yet. I wasn't enjoying this run nearly as much as I had in the beginning of it. I ran to the dead end of the industrial park. I was almost exactly at 5 miles. That was perfect.
I came back, trying to repeat the exact same route. When I'd get back to the school then, I'd be at 9 miles. Then, I could finish the last mile however I chose.
Going up the main road hill was a challenge. My legs were tiring after all the mileage today and yesterday. It was a good mental test for sure. I just kept going.
I almost didn't want to add the out and back dead ends, because they are hilly. However, I'd have to make it up later. I told myself, get through that and all that is left is easy downhill.
The out and backs were tough, but I remained focused. I hit miles 7 and 8 and was exhausted. I was soaked in sweat. The darkness wasn't helping any. This was one of the most humid runs of the summer. I drank all of my water by the end.
It was good to be going downhill now in the darkness. I couldn't look at my watch too often, since it was dark. Every now and then, I'd light it up. I got back to the black path and hit mile 9 right there.
I was really disappointed when I got to the school. I was going to loop around the parking lot to finish. However, two women were out walking a bunch of dogs. I think I encountered them doing the same after dark before too. One dog was friendly, but he sort of ran to me that time. I didn't want to mess with that.
I headed back into my neighborhood for the last mile. This was another mental challenge, but it was good to nearly be done. When I was struggling, I told myself, push through it is an off day tomorrow. Also, I know my marathon won't be easy, so my training runs can't all be easy either. I need to learn how to suffer and get through.
I couldn't believe how humid this run was at night. I'll run some more night runs over the next few weeks. Maybe I'll get used to it. I'll try running fast at night too. However, I'm not very confident now that I'll run fast during the race. I think the marathon will be more of a survival run.
Tomorrow, I'm busy so I'm taking a needed rest day. I'll pick it up on Wednesday. I'll try to do the long run that I missed yesterday. I want to at least get to 20 miles. Running 23 would be awesome. It is going to be very hot and I don't have time to run long in the morning, so this run will be interesting to say the least.
Run 1 7.01 miles - 52:47 (7:32 pace)
Run 2 10 miles - 1:20:34 (8:03 pace)
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