Another Week Down

Well, it was an interesting week. Ran 5, 8, 3, 12.5. The eight mile run was good. It was a pretty tough tempo with an ultrarunner friend and a shorter distance racer. It was their easy day and my hard day. It was real enjoyable except for the sensation in my stomach similar to swallowing a gold fish and all the water in the bowl with it. It was bad enough that they could hear it!

I had to move my runs forward a day this week because I am going on an outdoor recreation staff training weekend. This is my first year working for the Vanderbilt Outdoor Rec program. I am working the indoor climbing wall, working equipment rentals, checking the fuel-powered stuff, and co-leading four trips this year: 2 climbing, 1 canoeing, and 1 trail maintenance.

What that means is that my long run fell on a Friday. I would have liked to do around 18mi, but with the additional activities going on this weekend and the burden of running long on a school day, I lowered that to 12-13mi. So my long run partner and I hit the road at 5:30am this Friday morning, greeted by a steady mist of rain. Running mostly along sidewalks and on the shoulder, we made the 6-6.5mi turn around in even heavier rain. Despite wet shoes, wet feet, wet everything, the first half wasn't too bad. The second half was a different story though. I just felt tired, sluggish, lethargic. I was not enjoying this run. Sidewalks, cars, rain, and 5:30 = awful. So I got my 12-13 miles in, hit the shower, drank an Ensure, and got about 20mins of sleep before waking up for class. Lunch time brought my 4th meal by 1pm.

Hopefully this all day rain doesn't hang around for the weekend and put a damper on our staff training. We are going to learn and practice some skills and then do a mini adventure race. Should be fun! Plus, I'll get some time in my favorite Brooks Cascadias.

-Lesson for the day:
Get some bodyglide and apply. Fortunately, I didn't get any blisters, but I did get some chafing on my thigh from wet shorts. Plus, the previous two long runs brought chafed nipples. What? I've been wearing the same clothes, running similar distance in similar conditions. One more thing to deal with.