Hope To Run Again Before End Of The Year

 2 Dogs, A Deer, And A Snake

In less than 200 hundred yards from my starting point I had to deal with two dogs.  The first only looked my way and gave a bark.  I replied with a yell of my own.  Turns out he had come loose from someone's yard and it it unusual for this to happen.  Two houses down a real little do ran off a porch running and barking towards me.  It stopped at the curb and did not enter the road.  This is the third time in about a year this has happened.  Saw a deer crossing the road about a 100 feet in front of me a few miles later.  Too dark to tell if it was a buck or a doe.  Then a mile later a car passed, I recognized it and knew it was coming up on its house.  Then it stopped, backed up, stopped again, went forward, then back again.  I was confused by this.  Then she yelled out her window, watch out there is a snake in the road.  Sure enough it was in front of her vehicle.  Looked like either she or another car had run it over.  I think it was a copperhead.  It had some black diamond shapes on its back.  I could not tell how long it was, but it was pretty big around.  I had just come past that same spot about 5 minutes prior and did not see it.  But it was dark and I had no light tonight.

Workout wise I decided on 8 miles.  Wanted to mix in some faster paced miles.  Ran a 1 mile warm up.  Then tried for this: 7:30, 7:15, 7:00, 7:00, 7:15, 7:30.  I missed the splits a couple of times, but the overall average was about right.  Depended on the Garmin for my pacing.  I am still unable to pick out a pace, then run it without the aid of technology.

Holy Cow !! I have my first Half-Marathon this weekend.  I will attempt a mini taper towards the end of the week.  This will be my first race ever over 10k.  And I have only run two of those in the last three years.

Also realized a couple of things tonight.  1) I am still shocked when I see anything sub 7:00 pace on my watch.  Yet it is starting to become more frequent lately.  2) With a 1/2 mille left in my run I could not believe I had only run 8 miles.  A very short time ago anything over 6 miles was a long run.  I guess these are just two examples showing that I am making some progress in my running.

Ran a comfortable 4 on my own then met John at his house.  Another 4 with him.

Ran with John again tonight.  He was hurting, so we took it easy.  My right shin area hurts.  Been tender for close to a week now.  Usually stops hurting within a few minutes of running.  But hurt almost all run tonight.  I will keep my eye on it.

Messed up on my Garmin and did not realize it at first.  But between my watch and John's I think it is just about right.

Run - 6.24 miles - 51:58 (8:19 avg.)

Much cooler temps. today.  Only 68f and overcast when I came home from work. Still pretty humid though.

And the shin was tender all day.  Could feel it when walking around.

.07 before the end of each mile I ran a fast stride, 6 total.  Converts to about 123 yards for each.

Last run before my race tomorrow.  Ready, or not, here I come !

implosion - a sudden inward collapse; a process in which objects are destroyed by collapsing in on themselves

bonk - run out of energy, tire.  a state of severe exhaustion caused by the depletion of the main source of fuel in the muscles

 I experienced both of these today.

Woke up at 5:15 am.  Took a shower.  Ate a light breakfast.  Picked up C.B. and John and drove 80 miles to the race.  It was already pretty warm when we arrived.  The humidity was outrageous.  I checked the weather when I got home.  Beginning of race was - 72f / 98% humidity.  End of race - 79f / 78% humidity.

Ran a short warm-up, and was feeling good.  No aches or pains to speak of.  Already sweating a lot though.  Continiued to take in some fluids before the race.

There was a 5K and half marathon.  Both started and ran together for the full 5K.  I wanted to be careful of not going out to fast with the 5K'ers.  Did not completely play out that way though.  I felt like I held back pretty good on the first mile.  Split was 7:09.  Much faster than I had wanted and managed to slow down to a 7:13 on the 2nd mile.  Crossed the 5K in 22:22.  I was feeling so good.  Not tired at all.  Also found myself in a big gap between runners once the half marathon people separated from the 5K people.  I was not sure about the course and did not like running alone so I caught a group of 4 about 20 to 30 seconds in front of me.  Ran with them until the 5 mile mark.

On mile 6 I started to feel great !  I thought the others were slowing, but I now I realize I started running faster.  Felt good on 7 as well.  I noticed my pace had slowed on 8, but was not concerned.  As a matter of fact I knew this pace was probably to much for me, so I was happy I had backed off.  At the time I still felt I could keep on going like this to the end.  Then between 8 and 9 things changed...and quickly I might add.  When I got to 9 there was a water stop.  Unlike the others where I only swallowed what I could, I stopped and walked so I could drink two cups of Gatorade.  When I started to run again, everything still was ok.  Time got slower, but I did walk a little.  About the same for mile 10, except there was no walking this time.  Just could not go any faster.  Just before 11 was another water stop.  Walked and took in Gatorade again.  Getting slower too.

From 11 to 12 I walked a couple of times.  Each time I would restart my run I would feel decent for about 2 minutes, then I would get the urge to walk again.  My hamstrings and groin area kept twitching like a big cramp was about to come.  So I would walk, run, then repeat.

 At 12 something weird happened with my right foot.  My shoes were so soaked in sweat, and sounded squishy.  I thought my sock had just moved around under my foot.  Then when I walked again I saw that the insert that comes with the shoe was coming out the top near the inside of my ankle.  So I quickly took it off and fixed it.

I did not walk again after that since I had about a half mile to go.  I was not breathing hard at all, and felt like I still had a little energy.  But the legs were dead, and crampy.

Finished in 1:44:43 (7:57 avg.)  My watch measured the course a little long, but could not confirm if it was me or the course.  But I did concentrate of good tangents as much as I could.

After the race I had cramps in my calves and feet.  They would hit with a vicious fury..quick and painful.  Had some more cramps in the car and when I got home.  Taking in more fluids seem to have helped.

I am a little bummed about my overall time.  But I also feel good about my performance.  I know why I suffered...started to fast.  But also got a glimpse of what I am capable of when I run smart.  I hit the 8 mile mark in 57:39 (7:12).   That would be the fastest I have ever run for that far.  If I had run closer to 7:40 pace earlier I think I could have gone under 1:40.

I will call this a learning experience.  Now I have my first marathon in November to worry about.  All along I have decided to make this something I just want to finish.  Not a race.  No matter how good I feel early, I will make sure to keep it easy so I can finish.