RUN 26.3 miles in 7:02 at L&C
Ave pace 16:03m/m, ave HR 122bpm, 2100 ft elevation.
There's so much to say about this run, I'm not sure I'll get it all here especially given my current mental state.
My goals were simple: try running in compression socks and eat in the last 20 mins to prevent the fade-out. And of course, don't get injured.
Thursday we had a snow storm that dropped 4-5" on the trails then capped it off with sleet. That snow was still intact at the Mound where TH and I started the run. We made it a half mile out before changing our minds. 26 miles of stomping through the snow crust just wasn't a good idea. She suggested L&C, a winner idea. The trails there looked open and broken in.
So the last 25 miles were in that trail system. First a loop on Lewis with a 5 mile out-n-back on Katy, then a loop on Clark, then another out-n-back by myself for the mileage.
We were moving slow with the snow and at first I took that as a good thing--it would limit the pace and force us to "be good" about keeping the HR low. But in reality it wore us out fast, even though we moved slower. The Clark was in good condition, but the KT had just two narrow tire tracks from a vehicle, and the Lewis only had one other set of prints. Since we did the first 14.5 miles at the Mound, Lewis, and KT, a vast majority of those first 14 were rough going.
Punch-stomp along we went, wearing down fast. By the time we started mile 15, TH was getting quiet and falling back. I was happy to wait, but worried I was dragging her along. Our pace started averaging 19m/m, my HR dropped to 105-110 bpm. We hit 19.7 and she had to leave. We were 5.5 hrs into the day, putting us around 1:30pm already!
She was done on the trails and was going to finish at home, but I was set on finishing here. I took off for an out-n-back on the better-groomed Clark for the last three. I pushed the effort on these last miles to see just what I had left in the tank. My pace bumped up to 14-16m/m, but the effort to maintain that was not sustainable, as my HR topped out in the high 120s/low 130s.
One of my goals was nutrition and here's the result:
Brekkie was a large sweet potato, two poached eggs, and a few T of coconut butter/oil
In run was 2 gels, sport beans, a powerbar, and a 2xdate/2xcashews/2xmanges devil bar recipe, and ~2 servings of the EFS left over from last week.
Hydration--one camelback and one water bottle. That's IT!!!!
My nutrition was slow to start. Those big brekkies leave me unhungry for a few hours. I'm not sure if that's good or not? Probably not, probably better to focus on the in-run instead. I also ate some snax Friday light in prep for the run, I don't think I need to do that either. But whatever works.
My mental focus came and went with the sugar. That's one thing I HATE about the gel/sugar based nutrition--there needs to be a steady line of it for it to work. Also, the devil bars might be too heavy for these long runs, that or I need to eat less of them. By the last 5 miles I was feeling a wee bit gassy. But as for my goal, I ate the sport beans at mile 23 and another gel at 24.3. They helped, but I need to be more steady about it. Eat more early in the run. So I need to cut back on the big brekkie.
If a runner farts in the woods, and no one is around to hear it...
My feet got wet in the snow but were OK. My soles ached afterwards and the persistent blister on the medial area on the ball of my left foot came back. The Cascadia 5's are great, but I can't help but wonder what new shoes and fresh cushion could do for me.
Everything is comfy, everything is buzzing along, everything is falling into place.
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