prairie fire training long run: week two
Week two of training, check.
Even though week two is a wrap, it still doesn’t feel like I am actually training for a marathon. For some reason I haven’t fully wrapped my head around the fact that in four months I will be running 26.2 miles. Eh, what can you do? I guess just wait, and run, a lot.
This weekend Mr. B and I tackled 8 miles. Sadly, not together.
Here’s how it went down…
Me: I ended up running 8 miles on Saturday morning instead of Sunday. I set my alarm for 6:30am and felt ready to conquer this run given that last week’s 6 miles just sucked. I performed my usual pre-run routine before I headed out the door. I stretched my IT band, foam rolled, and scarfed down a piece of toast with peanut butter and banana slices.
I was out the door by 7:20. I felt like such a rebel being up that early on a Saturday:) The goal of my run was just to get it done and to have fun, which is exactly what I did. (I saw this sign while I was running along the path and knew it would be a good run after that.)
The first four miles zoomed by! My pace for the first 2 miles was right around the 10 minute mark which was great becuase it gave my body a chance to wake up. But then I got super excited and was running around a 9:15 for the last two miles. I could feel my legs gliding across the pavement…hello, runner’s high!
I ran from our house to Wash Park where I met Listy and finished the last four miles with her. When I saw Listy, I was sooooo excited! It’s a total motivational boost to run with someone. And the best part, besides gossiping, was that I got to push Chance in the Bob stroller. I felt so cool.
Thanks’ Listy for running with me! I had a blast.
Mr. B (his voice): 8 miles in the land of no trees.
Saturday was a long work day and a somewhat late work night , so a quick chicken wrap and two beers was it for dinner. Being out in the high dessert heat all day Saturday was causing some serious anxiety about the Sunday run. I knew I was dehydrated and that I would have to get out early. The forecast said it was going to be hot and windy (again).
What I didn’t know was that two beers with dinner on Saturday was enough to cause a bit of a headache when I awoke the next morning. Dehydration was already making my run crappy and I hadn’t even started. The planned route was selected by my inner geek. My 4 mile turn around was going be at the end of the runway at an abandoned WWII airfield outside of town where they used to train B17 pilots. What could be better than a flat airstrip?
Planning an out and back for a day when I wasn’t feeling too confident was my way of making sure I finished all 8 miles. There was no way of shorting the mileage if I was having a bad run. Yea, it crossed my mind not to go, but after watching the sun start poking up on the horizon and chomping on some Gu Blocks followed by plenty of water, I was ready to get moving. I was determined to finish my 8 miles no matter how long it took. I topped off my water and put some sports beans and a stick of gum in my bag and off I went.
The first mile felt like I was running in quicksand and I was starting to doubt if I could even finish the run. But I kept telling myself to move so I wouldn’t sink. I turned onto the runway at 3.5 and headed towards the south end. This thing was HUGE! The runway had to be a quarter mile wide. I could almost see the old bombers lined up ready for takeoff, but the squads of pilots in training had long since been replaced by hang gliders and tumble weeds.
Once I hit the turn around point, things fell apart. I was tired, my legs hurt, and I just wasn’t feeling it. That’s the beauty of an out and back. No matter how bad I felt, there was only one way to get back to the hotel and the longer I stood around feeling sorry for myself the hotter it was going to get. I reset my track to zero and told myself “it’s just 4 miles” and headed out. I’m somewhat new to distance running so I have to ask, am I the only one that is a second half runner? If I have a bad first half on a long run, I almost always have a great second half. It never seems to be the other way around.
At any rate, miles 5-7 flew by. I was in a groove and feeling good, but was getting a little hot. I noticed some sprinklers watering the grass along the path just ahead and planned on cooling down a bit, but right when I got to the water they shut off! WTF! I did a quick stretch and finished off my water and pulled on my big boy pants for the final mile. I started counting down the final mile and just like that I was back at the hotel.
Time to get cleaned up and find some food, then head off to Carlsbad Caverns to cool off. A cave 750 feet below the scorching sun sounded like the best place on the planet. By the time I stretched, showered and ate it was 110F and the wind was blowing 60 miles an hour.
Just another day spent living the dream.
In case you want to catch up on our training check the links below:
Sometimes I have to do the same thing, plan a run where I have NO choice but to do the distance to get home. Especially long runs. For some reason I seem to favor huge loops instead of out and back runs though. Good luck with your marathon training!
Jordan – Thanks for leaving your comment! As a runner, it's easy to get into the habit of just doing out and back runs because it makes you finish. But I really need to switch it up sometimes so doing loops is a great idea!
Hiya! I really enjoyed this post because it shows the true GUTS it takes to get a long-distance race trained for. NOTREES, 110 degrees, wind…are you kidding me? Running on an old WWII air strip? Sounds romantic but, sheesh, no cover whatsoever! I am super impressed with your discipline, Bret.
And I am super-impressed with your discipline, Lauren, getting out'the bed on a Saturday morning. It is the true 'dailyness' of training that makes a marathon difficult for everyone to do.
Love you all, Moomers