When Everything Clicks

August 1, 2015 by rundoodlerun 5 Comments

Today’s run was AWESOME.

As awful as last weekend’s run was, as horrible as the asthma attack was on Tuesday – this was that awesome and then some. Well, except for that early wakeup call thing. That wasn’t so awesome (nor was the infomercial I suffered through until the local news came on at 5:00am).

Last night’s blue moon was still hanging around this morning – which was extra spectacular when the sun rose opposite of it.

We were at the super hilly reservoir, which as much as we all like to bitch about it, is really quite ideal for training for the Baltimore Marathon. No better way to train for a hilly race than to run on hills courses! 🙂

After last week’s near-bonk, I made sure to pay extra close attention to how I ate this week and reevaluated my fueling plan for the long run. So basically I spent all day yesterday shoving any and all carbs into my face.

Despite the five blisters I picked up in DC on Thursday, I laced up my third pair of new shoes (Asics Gel Kayanos), filled my hydration pack to the brim, and off we went! Jennie was still a bit stiff from her training this week and I was more than happy to keep a slower pace so we could get through this run in one piece. Around mile 3 we saw a bald eagle soaring over the reservoir – so pretty 🙂  The hills are coming more and more easily, though they’re not easy just yet.

The new shoes felt really great, except for my left forefoot. I get this odd pain there, something I’ve been dealing with for as long as I can remember. It was noticeable on the uphills, but not on the downhills. I’m going in for a running evaluation this week, so I’m interested in picking their brains as to why this is.

Because of the length of our run, we did two passes of the reservoir. On the second pass, I switched out my shoes and put my old Brooks PureCadences on – instantaneous relief for my forefoot. Not so great for the achilles… but I’ve got to pick my battles.

We took the second set of hills in stride, making sure to hydrate early and often, and keeping up with our fueling strategy. Towards the end of the run, I actually started to feel hungry – which is why I brought along a Honey Stinger to try out! They’re not half bad – but they are a bit dry, which made getting it down more entertaining than I really ought to have been… Once that was down, we tackled the last hill pass. Bad choice. Problem a) my stomach isn’t used to solid food on the run. Problem b) when you run hard, your stomach gets last dibs on blood. After the first hill I had to walk for a quick bit to let things calm down, but then was fine for the rest of the run.

I didn’t want to jinx it by saying it out loud, but I felt amazingly good during the run. So much so that I added a little extra distance to my 16 miler – and did 16.25 miles! My longest run yet!! *happy dance*

I remember – not that long ago – when I struggled to hit 16 miles in a week. Talk about progress.

So now I rest, have a good lunch, and take a nice long nap. I’m calling today a success. 😀