Wednesday, March 7, 2012

First 20 Miler for Providence

Saturday there was about an inch of slush on the bike path where I was to run my first 20 miler for this marathon training cycle. The nice cold rain and a temperature in the low 30s made the thought of running less than desirable, but I was meeting AM, and running with AM is awesome. So slushy Saturday it was.

Slushy and cold turned out fine. The plan was to park and run 3 miles to where AM would be waiting. I'm not too familiar with the area, just to make sure I asked the older man in the parking lot ticket booth if I was heading in right direction. He sort of squinted at me and said, "yup, now why are you running on a day like today?" I just smiled, tipped my baseball cap in thanks, and ran off.

A little further down, the bike path was deserted. I was reminded of Frost's "the woods are lovely, dark, and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep." Then, of course, I ran through a puddle and started thinking in four letter expletives. For some reason, I'm a baby when it comes to running through puddles. It's like I think my feet will stay dry if only those puddles weren't there, but let's be realistic, how could my feet possible stay dry running through an inch of slush?

About 2 miles into the run, I found AM, and we were off. The rest of the run was great and passed by fast. The effort felt a little harder than my 20 milers for BayState and it was a bit slower (7:55 pace), but I was still recovering from being sick and the slush probably slowed me down too (it was a little slippery). On the positive side, I ran the day before and the day after, and I felt good the rest of the day. It's the first 20 miler I've run that didn't upset my stomach for the rest of the day, which makes running that much more pleasant. Overall, I'm pleased.

On the home front, everyone is healthy and happy! Yay! Kaylee has been talking up a storm and telling some really creative dynamic stories, which is so much fun to be around. Emily has been running laps around the house...nonstop. She runs and runs and runs some more. It's mostly funny because she has a fierce look of concentration while she's doing it. And Nick has been excited about building a new computer. After my long run, we drove into the city to pick up some computer parts. Nick was discussing motherboards, and Kaylee was all "daddy I think you're mistaken and actually mean keyboards." Ahhh, things are so nice when everyone is healthy...

8 comments:

Michelle said...

Great run!! Not feeling sick after is a great bonus. I frequently have that sick feeling for hours after.

On my front I have decided not to do the May marathon. I would have to change the schedule around so much, and even miss runs due to my boys' baseball schedules that I figured I would be setting myself up for failure. I will kick back for a bit and find a Fall marathon.

Karen said...

What a great victory to feel well after a long run! What did you do differently? Sometimes I have problems the rest of the day but just can't figure them out.

Nice job :)

Ana-Maria RunTriLive said...

I had such a great run with you, and I was dreading the yucky weather as well. We ran well, 15 miles @ 7:45 per my watch.

You hit the nail in the head here. The run seemed harder bc of the slush, but also bc you ran the day before. This is good, bc you are getting used to running long on tired legs (as opposed to the summer when you had a mini taper before our long runs). You are doing awesome! Always fun to run with you. This week my long run will be crazy - lots of 1 min hard 1 min easy, some tempo portions, etc, but once I get a regular long run maybe we can run together again.

Thnaks for the info on the 5K. The course does not look so bad, and probably the times are slow bc the fast people are doing BOston? Who knows...

Katie said...

@Michelle: Running a Fall marathon sounds good! It is really hard running marathons so close together...

@Karen: I didn't do anything differently. I am in better shape and I did run easier than I normally do. Maybe that's the secret sauce?

@AM: Thanks! You know, 1 min hard, 1 min easy, and tempo stuff doesn't bother me, but I'm busy this weekend anyway. It's funny though, most of my longer runs (14-15 miles) are workouts like that. Mostly because I do them on the treadmill and they pass faster.

Lindsay said...

mmm slush. (no thank you!) i am so glad we've had a mild winter. i seriously can't believe winter is over already. i kept waiting for a freak storm to come in...

great run! you are lucky to have AM nearby to run with - you're both awesome lady runners :)

AmyC said...

Great run - won't it be great when all of the snow & slush is gone completely? I am looking forward to clear paths & trails for long runs and dry feet =)

Raina said...

Slush...had a bit of it last week too. Wet shoes, slow running- but you are making it look fast! What a great pace there. You are playing this training thing so smart, Katie. I am anticipating a fantastic race at Providence for you.

Just a bit jealous that you got to run with AM. Sounds like so much fun!

Ana-Maria RunTriLive said...

Hey Katie,
So I decided that the Lowell 5K is either long or hilly - Kara did 18:52 there, so no way I would do sub 19. I am looking into one in Medford/Somerville, pretty flat course, not chip timed though, I don't think, but pretty flat. It is called RUn in blue or something

https://www.racemenu.com/events/10112-Run-In-Blue

Are you doing Quincy? I have 17 this weekend with nothing crazy in it:)