22 miler, longest run this year.

Saturday, April 3

I was dreading this run.  Maybe because my last long run seemed so long already, and slow, so adding 2 more miles seemed dreadful.  I was not going to do it alone!  Thankfully, Leslie and a new friend Jonathan were doing 22 on Saturday as well.  Leslie introduced Jonathan and I on facebook, we are both running Ogden and hoping to be sub 3:30.   The run was starting early at 6am. I haven't done a run that early in a long time, so I was also dreading that as well.  Then the weather!  It is April at this point, but it was looking more like January.  Friday night the winds were howling, and when I went to bed it was blowing snow like crazy.   It was a restless night.

I woke up at 4am.  I was somewhat hoping it was a blizzard outside so I could go back to bed.  It wasn't snowing at all.  This was good, and the run was on.   I ate my oatmeal, with bananas, strawberries, and a little greek yogurt, pulled on my running clothes, grabbed a glass of water, and got back in bed.   This probably isn't the best thing to do, but in the winter I seem to make it a habit.   I got back out of bed a little later than I should have, gathered the rest of my things, and went out the door. I under-estimated the time I would take me to get to the start location so I got there a little late.   Jonathan was a little late too, sorry Leslie!

It was cold and windy, thankfully no snow.  I was running in unfamiliar territory, but it was a nice run on the roads, and a paved trail for the first 11 miles.  I felt pretty good, and tried to keep up on my nutrition.   Going around the Daybreak lake was nice.  It was great having Leslie and Jonathan for company, and we took turns leading.   We made it back to our cars, to resupply our nutrition, I was a little warm, and took off my windbreaker, but quickly put it back on, my windbreaker works great but keeps moisture inside, I should have brought an extra shirt to change into.  I will remember this for next time.   We headed back on a canal trail, still feeling pretty good, my left hamstring/hip/bum was a little uncomfortable, but no pain.   We made it to the turn around point, and this is where I started to lose momentum.  I don't normally run on trail, this wasn't hilly at all, but some rocky areas, and my ankles, feet were tired and seemed to not be adjusting easily.   Note to self...do more trail running.    My legs and hips were starting to tighten up, and it kept getting harder and harder to keep speed.   My last two miles were really slow.  Jonathan and Leslie pulled ahead, and Leslie really got a burst at the end.   She is amazing, she rode her bike for six hours the day before!   We finally made it back to the cars.   We all quickly said goodbye and headed our own directions to get home and recover. 

The drive home was miserable, 20 minutes.  I was freezing and exhausted. I was grumbling at any car I thought was driving too slow, I just wanted to get home, and they were in my way.   It was difficult getting out of the car, and walking up the stairs to my apartment.  I wanted to collapse, but I needed food, and a cold water soak.   I somehow managed to make a recovery smoothie, shivering like I had hypothermia, then to the bathroom for a cold bath.  The hardest part is getting in, but the legs immediately start feeling better.  Took a warm shower, and felt much better.  My legs felt great no pain, and little tightness in the hams, and hips, but nothing to slow me down.

One more long run left before Ogden, and then I hope I did enough to get my goal time of 3:30.  My last couple of longs runs have seemed harder than the first two, hopefully I didn't peak too early, and it is all in my head.   It will be great having Jonathan there with the same goal, hopefully we can help each other out.