Training for 12/17/12

My calf more than cooperated this weekend, and I got in two really quite awesome runs.

Saturday morning, I got up very early and went straight to the cross country trail, to do a short test run to see if my calf would be up for it before I drove all the way to Easton to meet Kara for a run. It was foggy and cold, and the trail was completely deserted, but I had a good 3-mile run and decided yes, I would be able to run with Kara. I ate some breakfast and met Kara at her house.

She had invited Matt, a local guy who runs with her in a group she just started joining for her long runs on the weekends. I know Matt from all the Seashore Striders races around here. He’s really fast — 1:16 half marathons, 17-minute 5Ks and he’s about to start training for his first full Ironman next year — but every now and then he’ll run a pace closer to us mere mortals, haha.

We met Matt at a park and took off down Easton’s Rails to Trail, an old railroad line that was removed and paved over for a walking and biking path. I’ve seen it cutting through town, but I’d never been on it.

Matt talked our ears off the whole way, and we ran the entire length of the trail and back, about 4.5 miles. It’s a lovely trail, and it was nice to run a new route for once.

We did some stretching, and then Kara and I got lunch at Panera Bread. We stopped at Lowe’s so I could pick up a hole saw for Clark, who was working on wiring the garage.

When I got home, naturally the hole saw I’d bought was the wrong size. Gah! The Lowe’s in Seaford didn’t have any in stock, so I drove all the way to Millsboro to exchange it for the right one.

With the correctly-sized hole saw, Clark and his dad got the electrical wire through the foundation and up to the breaker box, and ta da, we have electricity in the garage! Which is awesome.

When Clark was done in the garage for the night, he helped me get the live Christmas tree into the front room. We got the lights on that night before Mike came over to hang out.

Mike, Clark and I went to Grotto’s for dinner. On the way home, we drove through a DUI checkpoint. No one got arrested for drunk driving, but Clark did get a $70 fine because Mike, an adult, wasn’t wearing a seatbelt in the back seat. Really, Delaware? We can ride motorcycles with no helmet, but the driver of a car has to make sure all the adults in the car are buckled up for safety. This makes no sense.

Sunday morning, I had a 14-mile long run on the schedule. My calf wasn’t bothering me or anything, but I was already bargaining with myself before I even left the house — you can cut it short if you want, just get in something. 

For the first time, I tried taking an Immodium — well, an off-brand one anyway — about a half-hour before I left the house, to see if it would help with my digestive issues.

I finally left the house, with my water bottle and an espresso-flavored GU I’d won from the Rehoboth half marathon. Once again, it was foggy and overcast, but warm enough I was comfortable in shorts and a long-sleeved shirt.

The first mile sucked, as usual, but it was faster than I’d expected — 7:47 by my watch. I made a conscious effort to slow down. I’d just been telling Kara the day before why it was important to do long runs slower than your goal race pace, and here I was running faster.

By the end of the second mile, I was rolling right along, around 8:00 miles. Still too fast for a long run when my goal pace in my next marathon is 8:00/mile, but oh well. I went with it.

I ate the GU at the halfway point of the run. It actually wasn’t too bad! And I’d made it that far without so much as a rumble in my gut, and no other stomach discomfort either. Had I finally found the magic bullet?

By 10 miles I was smiling. I was actually going to get in all 14.5 miles, and with no stops in the woods! Running sure is fun when you don’t feel like you might crap yourself!

Two miles later though, I was suddenly hit by the need to stop in the woods. Damn. It was just the one time though, and I felt fine for the rest of the run. I’m definitely giving the Immodium another try.

Anyway, I finished off the entire 14.5-mile loop in 1:56:40, the fastest I have ever run that loop. My average pace was 8:03/mile.

I really needed that long run. It was nice mental boost to get through all of my planned miles, and to do it feeling so strong. Last week had been kind of a downer, between taking off time after the half marathon and then dealing with the calf tightness, so yesterday’s run came at the perfect time.

After the run, I scarfed down a couple slices of the leftover pizza from dinner the night before, and then got to work. I put all the ornaments on the live tree, including the most un-Christmasy Star Wars ornaments ever. I cleaned the entire house, put the flannel snowflake sheets on our bed and folded three weeks’ worth of laundry.

Getting the live tree up and decorated really helped my mood too. The last two weeks at work have been beyond busy, and I just never had the time to do it. It might have been cutting it close this year, but I finally got that tree up:

Clark went in town and got electric candles and a spotlight for the garage, so it matches the house. When he got that all hooked up, the outside of our property looked really nice too.

He also got me a couple boxes of Christmas cards. I usually have those done and mailed the first weekend of December, but again, work kicked my butt the last two weeks. I only got one done last night, but the rest will be done very soon.

This morning, I ran three miles easy on the road with Pepper, and then we went upstairs so I could do my push-ups, ab exercises, invisible chair-sitting, weights and stretching. Shamrock Marathon training is officially under way!