Events conspired to make my long run yesterday another failure. First of all, I hadn't been eating so well lately, so there wasn't much gas in the tank to begin with. Second, it was HOT yesterday; it got up to 81 yesterday while I was running. Although this is mild by central Indiana standards, my body is not yet acclimated to such heat and I just didn't have any energy yesterday at all. I did scratch out 17.43 miles out of the scheduled 20, but I had to stop to walk or to rest so many times that I'm not sure of the value I got out of the workout. The overall pace wasn't terrible, but it was slower than I'd like. Luckily my water idea went very well, and I think next time I will stash one more bottle on the Rail Trail and be good to go.
I only have three long runs remaining before taper time, believe it or not; one every other weekend. The next I will try to hit 20, and then two at 22, I hope. My schedule calls for me to get up to 26, but I think that's a bad idea. I need to be comfortable at 20-22 before I can hope to get through 26. I don't feel like I can afford another long run like this one. I hope things go better next time! I am definitely going to concentrate on my diet in the days before the next one, and hope for better weather. At least by then I should be a little more used to the heat; this week it's supposed to top out at 80 almost every day until Thursday. My high school coach always used to say that it takes two to three weeks of running in heat before the body can get used to it.
Even though I know it was mostly the heat that got to me yesterday, it still is so frustrating because I felt so comfortable in my long runs through 16 miles. The good news is, after an ice bath and plenty of refueling, I am barely sore at all today. Hopefully this is a good sign.
I am thinking of taking a short run today and then making Friday my day off, since we're taking another trip (the last for a while) to Clarksville/Louisville to run the Papa John's 10-miler. This will turn into a semi-long run for me, what with warm-up and cooldown, so I don't have to worry about doing my 11-12 mile cutback long run on Sunday, so that's good.
Ride an electric scooter. Motorized vehicles are technically not allowed on the trail. This little kid was with his family, riding this very loud, very annoying scooter. He kept complaining that he was getting tired, too. He would pass me and then stop to wait for his mom, who could not keep up with him on roller blades. He usually left the scooter right in my path. Then I would go by, and before long I'd hear that high-pitched whining buzz behind me again. At least once he went by so close that that I actually had to dodge out of the way. His mother definitely saw that, but she offered no apology.
Walk against traffic. This idiotic couple and their dog insisted on walking down the left side of the trail when clearly the flow of traffic was against them.
Walk on the correct side of the trail, but allow your dog on its leash to wander over to the left side, effectively blocking the entire trail.
Remeber the long runs are meant to get the body and mind use to running for longer periods of time. Great job on running in that heat. We have not been graced with temperatues that warm up here yet so you may be more prepared for Bayshore then. Good luck at the next race.
Don't sweat the LR not going exactly as planned. Seems like I always have a couple of those each year where, for some inexplicable reason, I just couldn't get it going. Then, the next LR, everything works perfectly. Go figure.
I remember a horrific long run I had last fall in preparation for the December marathon. I had slept just 4 hours after working a busy swing shift the night before. I woke up and had coffee and a donut for breakfast. I was exhausted, but got a wild hair at about 11 a.m. Put my Camelbak on and headed out the door. By mile 15 the lactic acid build up was outrageous. I was barely jogging by mile 17 and I walked from mile 18-21. I was miserable, bummed, felt like a failure. I did my best not to let it get me down and thinking positively worked. The rest of my training went very well and then I qual'd for Boston in December. Moral of the story, as you know, don't let one bad run play tricks with your head. Learn from it and move forward. All will be well!
i believe the scientific term is "bleah"...i'm sure you'll be fine.