Week 11: A 20 miler under my belt

Once again I moved my Sunday long run to Saturday for convenience. This was my first of 3 20 milers before the marathon. I chose to run on the W&OD starting from Old Town Herndon. I staged my car at the 20 mile marker and ran toward Leesburg for 5 miles, returned to the car and ran toward Reston/Vienna and back for the final 10 miles.

distance	time	Pace	HR Avg.	HR Max
20.03	2:44:59	8:14	146	178

It was a decent morning for a run, plenty of cloud cover, but humid and warm. Brenda, who ran 14, and I got off to a late start (9:00) much to our chagrin as the sun poked through the clouds around 11 heating up the trail and giving me a good burn. The last 2 miles were brutal and I was toast by the time I reached the 20 mile mark for the last time.

An 8:14 pace w/ 3 minutes of walking a ~5min break in the middle might have been a bit overboard. It helps when I have a running partner to mellow the pace, but on my own, with all sort of traffic on the road, I was sucked into a quick pace.

At the mid-point I stopped to top off my water and changed my socks (No blisters... YAY!). I finished with a sore right hip and rear of the knee (above the calf). Both were alleviated by my Body Glide Warm-Fx, the product that caused recent shenanigans. At least it's making up for the pain, but it did manage to transfer to some spots I wouldn't have wanted it to.

After today I'll have run over 200 miles for the month of August, and put nearly 300 miles on my month and a half old shoes. That order from Brooks can't come soon enough... I look forward to this, a lighter week.

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Week 2: Day 3 - Plan altered; Cycling

Today I broke ranks with the Hal Higdon school of thought and spent the day cross training. I went out with Mead for a Mountain Bike ride on Difficult Run today. It was my first time on the bike in a while, and only my second ride since the Greenhorn Adventure Race in late April.

Every time I get back on the bike after a break from riding it takes me time to get the feel for it again, whether it's shifting on inclines or going over obstacles. Matt took me on some parts of the trail that were new to me, one spot which totally psyched me out, but I'll get there soon enough. It was a incredibly steep decline with a creek crossing and a barrier to hop.

I was feeling some knee pain during the ride when pedaling hard. Mead suggested I keep my heel down which not only helped eliminate the knee pains, but also seemed to provide more powerful strokes.

distance	time	Avg. Speed	HR Avg.	HR Max
6.88	50:36	8.2	138	168

Jays watch:
Scotty Richmond tossed a good 7 innings today allowing 2 runs. The offense scored early and often getting a nice cushion for the rest of the game. Vernon Wells, whom deserves much scrutiny due to his excessive salary hit a solo bomb and a RBI double. I got to take this all in over a few good brews and some excellent chicken tacos with home grown jalepeños curtousy of Mr. Mead. It was a good day.

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Week 2: Day 2

Today the plan called for a 5 mile run. The run felt good with new hiccups. I kept a fairly steady pace, except in the middle when I had to race to beat a light at a main intersection. I live dangerously...

distance	time	Pace	HR Avg.	HR Max
5.05	39:59	7:56	147	181

The heat in the sun was up today, so much that the car AC didn't want to work too effectively. I had a bit of cottonmouth. I felt like I was hydrating properly; perhaps it was the weather. I also felt a little bit of knee pain under the knee cap when cooling down. It didn't last, so I'm not concerned.

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