Tuesday: 6 miles
Wednesday: 5 miles
Thursday: 4 miles
Saturday: 3.5 miles
Sunday: 3 miles, extreme hills
Monday: 20 miles!
On Saturday, I flew to San Diego to begin a 10-day California-Arizona vacation. I changed the schedule for the long run so that I wouldn't be battling jet lag, dehydration and the forecasted rain (in San Diego? hellooooo??). Instead of a long run on Sunday, I ran a grueling 3 miles in my parents' neighborhood. You will accuse me of hyperbole, but a USGS topo map will bear me out: the roads around here are steep enough to make you wonder what kind of ordinances govern how steep a road is allowed to be. At the one point I was summoning my high school geometry skills to gauge the pitch of the trail. My best guess is 60 degrees, backed up by the fact that at one point I could reach forward with my hand and touch the path in front of me. So I figured 3 miles of that is plenty.
The big news this week was yesterday's 20 mile run -- the second of three 20 milers. The first 20-mile attempt was in Burlington two weeks ago, in the freezing cold. I ended up running the last 7 miles on a treadmill, after my knees had stiffened up and only determination was keeping me going.
This time, I had the San Diego's famously perfect weather back on my side. I ran at Mission Bay Park, using a route I found from the San Diego Track Club. I ran the first 15 miles pretty consistently at a 12-minute pace, which is really the best I can hope for. I stopped a few times to fish Gu packets out of my pockets and to check my map, but there was no walking. As the boredom set in I got a welcome boost from a running coach with whom I crossed paths a few times. He slowed (waaay) down to chat for awhile and gave me some encouragement and a few Gu packets.
The last five miles were an out-and-back stretch on the boardwalk of Mission Beach. I wanted to stop at a friend's house to add ice to my CamelBak (the Gatorade had warmed in the sun... not refreshing....) but she wasn't home. Unfortunately, this pause in motion was just enough to give my knees a chance to mutiny against this forced labor. It was tough to get going again, even after a good stretch. I probably walked 1.5 of the last 5 miles and slowed down my overall time pretty dramatically.
I was feeling a little defeated as I chugged the last yards to the parking lot: I still have 6.1 miles till the real finish line. But that is five weeks away and this 20 miles was better than the last; and I still have one more 20-mile run to go. And seriously, running 18.5 miles and walking the rest is pretty amazing!
I mentioned it was warm enough that my Gatorade started tasting nasty. I had two weather missteps in this run that I can only blame on having trained all winter in Vermont, where the focus in on staying warm and having enough mittens, neck gators, etc to wipe away the frozen snot and tears from your face. Not so in San Diego.
When I started in the morning, it was pretty cool and very windy. As I stood stretching in the parking lot at the beach, I felt really chilled. I should have thought it through more logically but that "must not get cold!" reflex convinced me to keep a long-sleeved shirt and long pants on over my t-shirt and shorts. It only took a couple of miles before I started wondering where I could ditch my clothes that I might be able to collect them on the way back. I spent some time wondering which of the many hotels in the area wouldn't mind if a sweaty runner came in and asked to leave her clothes with the reception desk. I finally decided on neatly folding them and leaving them among the shrubs at a hotel entrance. I figured if someone found my clothes intentionally placed in the mulch they might a) leave them alone or b) turn them in to lost and found. The scenario which I was willing risk in the accumulating heat was c) a homeless person might become their new owner. This is what the concierge concluded when I explained the situation later in the afternoon. She also recommended that, next time, I should come in ask to leave my clothes at the desk.
So, I ran for hours in short sleeves and shorts under the warm sun at the beach. And did I think about sunscreen? No, I did not think about sunscreen. I explained to my friends who live here that I haven't worn sunscreen since August - it just wasn't on my runner's check list. "Huh, I wear sunscreen every day," one of them volunteered. So I'm now sporting bright red, warm patches of skin on my calves and arms. It's really attractive. Interestingly, the sunburn has been the worst of the day-after discomfort. I was really sore last night, and this morning at first. My muscles and joints feel pretty good now, only 24 hours later, but the sunburn.... Sadly, the next stop on my vacation is a spa in Arizona where I had planned to enjoy deep-tissue massages. Ow!
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