First 20k of the season
I ran my first 20k of the season tonight. My schedule actually called for a 25k but hey, I've been sick...
It was a beautiful day and the early evening was equally spectacular. I started from Hamsterly Beach because I wanted to do the 1/2 Iron route. The plan was run two laps of Elk lake and then maybe another 2k and back, depending on how I was feeling. Given that my feet had been giving me a bit of feedback in earlier runs, I also was prepared to cut it short if that's what it would take to avoid an injury. Turns out, I did neither.
The 1st 5k were extremely easy. I was keeping my heartrate ~155 so I was a good 7 bpm off my aerobic max. I hit the 5k mark and wanted to kick it up a few notches but decided to hold off until I hit it a second time. After all, I'm only 1/4 the way into this. There were lots of people on the trail for the first loop and it was fun to watch the rowers on the lake.
I hit the 10k feeling strong and thought "24k, here we come baby!" However, I didn't seem to be running any faster and my heartrate had crept up to 160. There's a little hill just past the boatlaunch as you're approaching Pumphouse Road and my heartrate alarm was going off like a kid with an annoying new noisey toy. Looking down, I was at 170 (it was set to go off at 166) and there wasn't much I could do to get it to come down. Finally it quieted down but I realized I might be starting to get tired. My next walk break, I broke into the sharkies and would put two in my mouth to suck between each break. The weird thing was, my heart rate stayed pretty high for the next couple k, even though it was pretty flat. Suspecting that it was the sugar, I figuredI'd run without and just keep sipping on eload instead.
That seemed to do it.
Suddenly I found that I was really able to focus on my run. I hit the 15k mark and was excited to think that this time, I'm 3/4 done. However, I was getting a weird shooting pain in my knee and started taking more frequent walk breaks whenever it was bugging me. That went away but I was moving into the general joint pain that tells you, you're approaching that runs max distance. Checking the next marker, I'd gone 18k.
The next two were a bit of work as I was getting tired and sore. The funny thing was where I was getting tired. The various sorts of fuel were keeping my legs moving but my head was getting really heavy. I can't say that's ever happened before. 1.5k until I'd done two laps and it was clear that was all I was going to do tonight. Approaching the beach, I was out of water and finishing the workout so I could get to the fountain was what it took to keep me focused.
And just like that, I was done. I'm sure it's going to be a lot harder on race day but It's nice to have it under my belt and especially when I'd had a good time doing it. I would have liked to have run further but I still feel great about what I got done.
Life is hard. Fleeting moments of glory are often mingled with the sweat, tears and blood that it takes to get there. But at least you get there.
It's just work.
~Jon Stocks
It was a beautiful day and the early evening was equally spectacular. I started from Hamsterly Beach because I wanted to do the 1/2 Iron route. The plan was run two laps of Elk lake and then maybe another 2k and back, depending on how I was feeling. Given that my feet had been giving me a bit of feedback in earlier runs, I also was prepared to cut it short if that's what it would take to avoid an injury. Turns out, I did neither.
The 1st 5k were extremely easy. I was keeping my heartrate ~155 so I was a good 7 bpm off my aerobic max. I hit the 5k mark and wanted to kick it up a few notches but decided to hold off until I hit it a second time. After all, I'm only 1/4 the way into this. There were lots of people on the trail for the first loop and it was fun to watch the rowers on the lake.
I hit the 10k feeling strong and thought "24k, here we come baby!" However, I didn't seem to be running any faster and my heartrate had crept up to 160. There's a little hill just past the boatlaunch as you're approaching Pumphouse Road and my heartrate alarm was going off like a kid with an annoying new noisey toy. Looking down, I was at 170 (it was set to go off at 166) and there wasn't much I could do to get it to come down. Finally it quieted down but I realized I might be starting to get tired. My next walk break, I broke into the sharkies and would put two in my mouth to suck between each break. The weird thing was, my heart rate stayed pretty high for the next couple k, even though it was pretty flat. Suspecting that it was the sugar, I figuredI'd run without and just keep sipping on eload instead.
That seemed to do it.
Suddenly I found that I was really able to focus on my run. I hit the 15k mark and was excited to think that this time, I'm 3/4 done. However, I was getting a weird shooting pain in my knee and started taking more frequent walk breaks whenever it was bugging me. That went away but I was moving into the general joint pain that tells you, you're approaching that runs max distance. Checking the next marker, I'd gone 18k.
The next two were a bit of work as I was getting tired and sore. The funny thing was where I was getting tired. The various sorts of fuel were keeping my legs moving but my head was getting really heavy. I can't say that's ever happened before. 1.5k until I'd done two laps and it was clear that was all I was going to do tonight. Approaching the beach, I was out of water and finishing the workout so I could get to the fountain was what it took to keep me focused.
And just like that, I was done. I'm sure it's going to be a lot harder on race day but It's nice to have it under my belt and especially when I'd had a good time doing it. I would have liked to have run further but I still feel great about what I got done.
Life is hard. Fleeting moments of glory are often mingled with the sweat, tears and blood that it takes to get there. But at least you get there.
It's just work.
~Jon Stocks
posted by Jonathan at 9:46 PM
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