Northshore muddy double
Posted on 12. Oct, 2006 by Brad in Training
Surface: Dirt
Mileage: 18
Duration: 04:23:00
Pace: 14:36/m
Shoes: Montrail Hardrock
First, something interesting to note: today’s run put me at 1000.7 miles officially logged in my joglog. I know I’ve not logged every run since I first began, but for the last couple of years, I have put everything in.
With a rather weak base, I decided for my mind’s sake I needed to get in another long run before the upcoming Palo Duro 50K I’m scheduled to run Oct 21. Since I now kind of know my way to and around the Northshore trail, I decided to give it a try after a recent rain. I had no idea what to expect. While I did end up completing the distance I originally set out to do, I tried to convince myself to quit. It was just after the 9 mile mark after I set back out to complete the south portion of the trail. I turned around, took two steps, and realized I needed to get this done no matter how much it hurt (and it did, but not too badly!).
I started around 7:30 this morning and the temperature was quite nice. I believe it was in the upper 50s according to radio weather reports. The sun was already providing a lot of light by the time I got to the parking lot so I quickly unpacked my things and set out on the more northern part of the route. I decided to take it first because it is hiller and less runable. I figured if I got it down in a decent time, I’d feel good about myself and be inspired to tackle the second half with no problem. Well, I did tackle it quite well, coming in at 12:00/m right on the nose. Looking back, I really did run a lot of things I should have walked and probably did not rest as much as I should have since I kept a pretty quick pace. And it came back to get me.
During the first half I also got two pleasant reminders that I should be really careful of the terrain. Due to heavy mud in one spot almost to Far Gate, my left foot got stuck in the mud then slid from under me. Though I didn’t fall, my right hand (also carrying my water bottle) did go knuckles-first to the ground. I awarded myself a 9 for technical merit and an 8 for style :-). My second almost disaster came on a nasty downhill rocky section. My left foot tripped over a rock and I went lunging down the hill much faster than I wanted to. I kept my footing and managed to keep from wiping out. That one could have been really bad, including injuries to all sorts of things.
I got back to my truck and was feeling pretty good. The morning was nice and I had carried plenty of fluid. I ate part of a Cliff Bar and downed a bit of water. I spent 7 minutes in all on this stop. There was more of that to come … much more. My time heading to Rockledge from MADD seems to be exactly 1 hour. I spent 10 minutes of that sitting at a picnic bench just absorbing the day and resting. Once at Rockledge, I spent a whopping 21 minutes looking at the lake and laying flat on my back on a picnic table. Then back to MADD, I took a little over an hour without official stops, but with a ton of butt dragging up the hills. I also didn’t have quite enough water for the entire second leg. That mentally got me down, particularly when the new water fountain that some of the club members were sure to point out was dry.
This run was night and day from Saturday. I felt really bad once I finished. Though I went quicker, I don’t feel like it was worth it. I know if I had to go 13 more miles today, I’d have been in big trouble. I actually think I could have managed a smile after 13 more on Saturday. This just reminds me that I should probably go out really easy and keep my slow and steady pace to the finish line.
Today highlighted one of my really bad habits (at least when it comes to making good progress). I tend to want to spend a lot of time just sitting around when I feel like I could use a good rest. During races, I know I’ve spent 15+ minutes at aid stations. Over the course of a 50k, that adds up big time and is probably why my pace has been dragging. But then again, looking at my slow pace from Saturday, even if I didn’t need to rest, I’d still probably be taking it easy. Hmm … how to fix this?
One more thing, I tried Bag Balm on my toes just to get used to the feeling. It felt icky at first but I got used to it. I am not sure if it helped any, but I did not blister.
