I met up with JS at Eau Claire at around 8:30 this morning. She was up for around 20k of my total distance and I was so happy for the company. It had been over a month since we had run together at the track. With my being sick this past week and not running at all in abut a week and a half, I wasn't sure how this was going to end up going.
and, of course, the thermometer plummeted overnight so it was stupidly cold. But we were dressed for it.
We headed out to the east and spent the first 9.5k getting caught up and telling stories of our adventures of the past month. That brought us to the Calf Robe Bridge
Then we turned back...and despite having our bottles turned upside down - they still froze up. I am sure it was quite entertaining, watching me unscrew the bottles and slam the caps on the asphalt to break the ice loose so the caps wouldn't freeze on them.
We spent alot of the return trip reminiscing about the adventures we've had on this same path. The races, the misadventures, the cheerleading. We've had many great runs out there. Took a quick pitstop at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary to use the facilities and rinse the ice out of the bottles and we were back on our way.
There weren't really any adventures on this run...just great conversation and mileage logged. It was tough and by 15k, I was battling fatigue and a caffiene withdrawal headache.
Back at Eau Claire, the runners from Run Santa Run were all returning in their Santa Suits, which is always a funny sight.
I bid farewell to JS, bought a gel with caffiene in it, popped an advil and swapped my bottles for thawed ones. Then, I was back on the pathway for the final 15k solo. To Edworthy and Back.
It was actually the exact route of the Spring Trio 15k that I ran in the spring. But I ran strong and I ran good and I didn't suffer. So it was a great run. I'll take it. I hope my back to backs (including another 34k) go as well next week.
The paths were gloriously clear
The sun was my best friend - as long as I was in her glow, I was comfortably warm. Shade was hell.
Pretty pretty river.
I had downtown in my sights...this was about 4 k to go!
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| I really must stop furrowing my brow like that. I can just see the stupid wrinkles setting in now... |
When I came to this pedestrian walkway - I had to take it. When J used to run with us, she would always yell "Bonus points for the roller coaster!" and we'd have to take it. I miss you, J. I hope you are healed up soon so you can come back and run with us when we are back to shorter distances (and it isn't below your temperature cut-off :P).
In the end, this is what the run looked like. With my pitstops at Inglewood and Eau Claire - my total time was around 5:30, but this is what it took when I was running.
It was a good, fairly comfortable run. My pacing was fairly consistent and I wasn't in pain as I did it. I am going to hand alot of the credit to advil and caffiene but I actually really enjoyed this. Gave me a nice mental boost to this training. I can't believe in just over a week, I will be on taper...
I also think Coach Sheena would be proud to know my ass is really hurting tonight. Means I'm using those muscles instead of making my legs do all the work.
And never had a coffee tasted so good...mmmmmm.
The Garmin Geekery
Nice job on your long run and in the COLD!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your 34K long run in the cold! Well done!
ReplyDelete