Yesterday was very crappy, I decided not to get up early and took Dorian and Rocky with me to the riverfront for a 3.3-4 mile run. Things were going pretty good until we hit the stone pathway, not sure what kind of stone but not 5 minutes after getting on it my shins were screaming at me. From my knees all the way to my ankles it was hurting bad, I couldn't correct my form and I was seriously worried. Luckily once I got off the stone things felt somewhat better but my legs were just taxed from it. On the way back, we reached the stone right at 3.3 miles and I stopped my watch there and walked the .4 miles until the stone was over. Then we ran the final .7 miles to get 4 miles total, things felt better by that final .7 so I figured (or hoped) there was nothing wrong with my shins.
This morning, once again I didn't want to get up or even go out the door and after eating a cinnamon raisin english muffin with peanut butter and some coffee at 3:15 AM I laid back down until 4 AM. It was a pain in the ass to get up, but I had 18 miles planned and even though I really wanted to stay in bed and take the day off I knew I had to get some mileage in.
I grabbed my head lamp for the streets without lights that were also pitch black due to trees, which just made my head warmer which sucked. It was 65 degrees with 88% humidity with no wind or breeze whatsoever....... in other words it really sucked.
By mile 2 I knew it was going to suck, but I kept pushing along. My calves were a little tight and sore, probably from the stress that my shins caused yesterday. I stopped at a gas station for a bathroom break just after mile 4 and got back out on the road thinking I didn't give a crap if I just ran 10 miles and then went right back to bed. By mile 6 I had made up my mind with just doing 10 miles, I figured it was better than nothing at all... you know?
But by mile 8 I decided I didn't want just 10, but not being too sure about 18 or even 20 I decided I would try for 15 miles and be happy with that. I think I had my first gu by mile 6 and then the 2nd by mile 10 which is usually a little too soon for me. I am used to taking my first gu by mile 10 or 12, but this run was proving to be pretty damn tough.
At mile 12 I had to stop and use the bathroom, sadly there was no gas station but thankfully some woods and a bridge and I had wipes, but mosquitoes suck major ass and no breeze makes it even worse.
By mile 13 I said fuck 15, I want 18 damn it because that is what I had planned for the day and my legs/body was feeling quite a bit better even with the sun starting to come out of the clouds and that was making it even hotter which was making it suck even more. I was stopping at every mile, as usual and that pisses me off dang it. Just after mile 14 I rescued a baby Alligator Snapping Turtle on the road, tiny little guy was probably a half dollar size.
I had consumed all 3 gu's at this point, and was downing my grape gatorade fast, luckily I had my 2 Liter hydration reservoir which I had filled to 1.5. I can't really explain how happy I was to reach mile 16 because I knew I had to finish the final 2 miles.
I finished 18 miles in 2:55:16 with an average pace of 9:44 min/mile, and an elevation gain of 336 feet, a loss of 337 feet.
Laps/splits were:
Mile 1 - 10:46
Mile 2 - 10:18
Mile 3 - 10:10
Mile 4 - 10:05
Mile 5 - 10:04
Mile 6 - 10:08
Mile 7 - 10:01
Mile 8 - 10:04
Mile 9 - 9:50
Mile 10 - 9:45
Mile 11 - 9:33
Mile 12 - 10:15
Mile 13 - 9:17
Mile 14 - 9:21
Mile 15 - 9:20
Mile 16 - 9:06
Mile 17 - 8:38
Mile 18 - 8:34
I am beginning to doubt finishing under 4:30:00, with all the stops I make during my long runs and even some of the walking....but I am just going to keep telling myself the most important thing is finishing that marathon.
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