12k and it felt great

August 16  Plan:  12k LSD  Actual:  12k LSD

I was a bit nervous about this one, I'll admit it.  I haven't run anything more than 10.5 since the middle of June when I hit the 15k mark.  I know the kms are going to increase pretty rapidly now so 12 was the start of the climb. 

Last weekend's 10k damned near killed me so I was both stoked and terrified at the thought of 12.  I felt a bit better during my week runs so that was something but I really had no idea what 12 would feel like when I actually got out there. 

Saturday morning I set my alarm for 7 something and got out of bed after a snooze or two.  Had a cup of coffee, two pieces of toast with some peanut butter, and got all my gear together.

Loaded up my fuel belt with all three 10oz bottles, two water and one with lemon lime sport Mio for electrolytes.  I find that any run over 7k means my hands will swell up like crazy so anything I can do to try to keep my sodium levels in check I'll do. 

Still trying to find a balance on the nutrition side of things as I run.   Haven't tried any of the gels - quite frankly, they freak me out.  But I do have a good supply thanks to a friend of Clif Shot Bloks and those seem to do the trick for me.  So I popped three of the cherry chocolate ones into a ziploc bag, tucked it into my fuel belt, strapped on my heartrate monitor, and hit the pavement.

It was still rather early and pretty overcast and, therefore, the perfect conditions for running.  Truly, I loved almost every minute of it. 

When planning my route I was looking at different options nearby and decided to try something different.  Mapping things out I realized just how far 12k really can be.  I thought I'd start and home and run down Brock Street then get Micheal to come and pick me up once I was done.  Well, turns out my house to the frickin lake is only 8ish k!!  I would have had to run along the lake then up part of Thickson to actually make it to 12k.  Seemed way too far for me and way too much of a pain in the ass to coordinate a ride so I went for a straight out Taunton out and back.

By and large the run out that way is rather flat. There are a few inclines which, funnily enough, I didn't really notice until I'd turned around to come back home.  Didn't seem downhill on the way out but back, you sure did feel the uphill!  Had to cross Taunton a few times as there's no sidewalk for some reason in certain strips of the road but as always I made it work. 

At the 10k mark my lower back started to get sore which was a bit unusual but I'll chock it up to carrying so much liquid around that area for a longer time than I normally would.  Since it wasn't as hot out and there was some great cloud cover I didn't go through as much water as I normally would have meaning I carried it for a lot longer. 

All in all it felt really good to be out there, and I was delighted I was able to improve my pace even over 12k.  I'd been over 8 for a while and sure, 7:55 might only be 5 seconds under 8 but I'll take it after the week I'd had!!!

A Sunday quickie

July 27  Plan: 3k steady  Actual:  3k steady

Today I knew there was a short one on the agenda but I had no idea when I was going to fit it in.  The weather forecast was all over the place and I really wanted to sleep in so I did just that and decided to roll with the weather punches, whatever they had to offer.

Got my sleep in on (after one of the most severe thunderstorms I've ever been through!!) and hopped out of bed at 8:30.  Micheal was leaving for the day with his sisters so I knew my time was entirely my own.

I popped open the blinds and there wasn't a cloud in the sky - nothing but sun everywhere.  I waffled back and forth about when to go and decided that if I wanted to run outside I might as well go right then and there to get it over with before the temperature increased even more.  Higher temps AND all that sun?  Killer combo.

Thankfully the schedule only called for 3k so I knew it was something I could get done relatively quickly.

I donned the race shirt from yesterday, thinking it was as good a day as any to break it in.  At first I wasn't wowed by the colour but it grew on me over time.  Sure made me easy to spot on the road!

 

Was going to do a quick out and back but decided half way through to just keep going.  Actually worked out perfectly and I got back to the house just over the 3k mark.  Will have to remember this for future 3k days!

Incredible how the weather changed though.  Not a cloud in the sky just after 8:30?  Here's that same sky about 40 minutes later.  Clouds galore!  Which of course made for even nicer conditions because I wasn't being blasted by the sun. 

 

In hindsight it was the perfect time to go out for a run.  Got it done nice and early, left me plenty of room to do alllllll the errands I had to do today, and I didn't have to a) run later when it got even hotter or b) run in the rain tonight or c) hit the treadmill.  Woot!

Rest day tomorrow then back at it Tuesday night.  Hard to believe there are only two more runs before we leave for Mexico on Friday!  I'll miss my LSD on the weekend but have packed my gear so I can do at least two runs while at the resort.  I WILL do at least two.  :)

That's it for today!  See you on Tuesday.