Monday, July 13, 2009

Three long runs

A lapsed blogger, I've been. Here's a recap of the last three weeks of long runs:

Stowe, Vt, Moscow loop- 10.5 miles
Annual Mad River rugby tournament can't be missed, so we made a plan to arrive at the field in Stowe as early as possible and I immediately took off for run. Did you know that Stowe is hilly? My legs were toast after this run. Watching rugby for the rest of the day was fun, but I had to take a nap around 3 p.m.

Grand Isle, Vt, Ferry loop road - 12 miles
The week preceding this run stank - workouts went badly, or didn't go at all. (Note I didn't write about it.) I got some inspiration from Andy Roddick's against-all-odds Wimbledon performance and decided to forget about the week and focus on the long run. I mentally broke up the run into 2 mile segments and focused only on the next 2 miles in front of me. It went really well! This run resurrected the week for me, and has propelled me into a streak of strong workouts ever since.

Grand Isle, Vt, Route 2/East Shore Road - 14 miles
And that streak flagged a bit on this run, on Sunday. A synopsis:

Miles -- Little voice in my head
0-2 You're always tired at the beginning, shake it off
2-4 Now you're into it, this isn't hard
4-6 Should I pick up that fallen garbage can? Nah, keep going.
6-8 Shade feels nice, pretty view of the lake from here.
8-10 Great pace! Cue the theme song to "Rocky"! You are an underdog running hero! Bit breezy though.
10-11 This wind is RIDICULOUS. There are white caps on the water, hold onto your hat (literally).
11-12 Oh god help me. This wind is the running equivalent of those infinity pools. Am I running place, here?
12-12.5 I could hitchhike! Look, she's leaving the farmer's market - she'd give me a ride.
12.5-13 Alright, get it together. Only 1.5 miles to go, just make it happen.
13-13.85 Screw it - walking is exercise, too.
13.85-14 Jog it on home. Just in time to escape the rain.



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