The First Week of October

So after last week's 18 mile debacle (or shall we say 9.61 mile finish), running seemed to be a bit of a struggle this week. 

However the weather cooperated.  I seem to run slowly outside so my fix to that was to run outside.  Tuesday, I ran 5 miles around the 'hood.  It was a little hotter than I had expected (83), so I grabbed my water bottle full of Gatorade and went.  I didn't really know what to expect because I wasn't fully there, mentally, but I kept my legs moving and focused on getting the next .25 miles done (I don't particularly care for this course because I have to do it 2 times and then add on streets, but I got it done).

Wednesday was Porter's birthday.  She would have been 13.  We had 8 miles scheduled, but we went and had beer in her memory.  Because, yes, my dog's birthday is THAT important to me.

So that put 8 miles on Thursday. I wasn't really feeling it.  I knew D wasn't feeling it.  I finally got to the gym.  I put on a pair of compression shorts.  They were not the ones I thought, and they were a little snug.  I don't know if that was the problem, or if they had a pre-existing hole in the inner thigh.  Whatever.  I decided to do 8.  At mile .5, the fat that was bulging out of the hole was rubbing against the seam of the other side of the shorts (yeah, my thighs touch).  So at Mile 1, I stopped and Body-Glided the hell out of the hole,because my skin was burning.  Anyway, D got there.  He wasn't exactly excited to do 8.  I could feel I was making my gait weird trying to run without the fat touching the other thigh.  I decided to do 4, he did 5. 

Saturday came.  I think D thought I was being weird, because I was really preparing for 12 miles.  Because of last week, I ate 2 Clif Bars before heading out.  I had bought Honey Waffles in an attempt to eat real food (not gels or blocks) while out.  So I packed 2.  Got my 40 oz of Gatorade.  Then it was 55 degrees.  I decided to wear long sleeves when I saw there would be no temperature change in 4 hours.  So compression shorts and a long-sleeve light T (my ATL half-marathon shirt).  And then we were off.

D asked where I was going. I told him I really didn't know.  And I didn't.  Even when I started, I wasn't sure if I was going to go through my own neighborhood or venture south.  I decided to stay in the 'hood, but I got up to the top of a hill and decided I'd rather go travel north.  So I did.  Although I typically drive through Ormewood Park, Grant Park, and Peoplestown, I stay on 3-4 roads.  I know the streets of GP pretty well, from previously running there, but I never really went into Ormewood Park.  So off I went.  Can I just say what big hills there are there?  The one road that I typically drive on is relatively flat, but go off that road, and BOOM!  Downhills steep enough to have to walk down, drawn out long hills that never seem to end.  At mile 7, I finally got out of OP and to Grant Park (the actual park) and decided to run the Summer Shade 5K route in reverse.  Except I knew it wasn't long enough, and I didn't really want to run on Boulevard because I would have to run on the sidewalk.  So I ran part of the route, and ended up even further north up at Woodward.  I ran to Boulevard and then ran all the side streets all the way to Hill.  I decided I would run Connally to Georgia and run around the parking lots at Turner Field.  However Peoplestown was setting up their fall festival and Georgia was closed, so I ran around the streets that hold the GA State Track (I didn't actually run on the track).  Finally I was at Mile 10.  I was pretty sure this mile was mostly downhill (I forgot to take into account the uphill up Georgia (the away from the festival) to Cherokee.  Finally at Cherokee running south, it was downhill.  But I could tell I needed to determine more of a route.  I did some side spurs and ended up getting off of Cherokee because zoo traffic was building up.  I ended up finishing back on Hill.  I called D and he came and got me from the pet store (we needed dog food so this was planned). 

Me, finished 12 Miles

My time wasn't great, but overall, I felt strong mentally.  And even if the time wasn't great, it was consistent.   And as evidenced of Mile 12, I think I really wanted to be done.

Sunday I planned on doing the 8 miles around the neighborhood.  Since I know the route and where to take walk breaks I didn't look at my watch.  At mile 3.3, I was exhausted.  My quads were killing me and basically, I thought they were going into revolt.  My watch time made no sense, when I finally looked at it.    Since the dogs were sick, I told D I would swing by the house, and if he left me a message to come in (i.e. took my Gatorade inside), I would...else I'd continue.  Yeah, that 4 miles was looking good.  I headed home, and when the watch dinged at 4, I had to do a double take.  I figured my lack of fueling for this run (I don't think a slice of pizza 3 hours prior and a 32 oz Diet Coke really count), had worn me out.  It didn't occur to me 6 minutes faster than anything I had done in 2 months of outside training would be the culprit.  So I got home, and no message, but I was completely done.  So I went in.