The Week in Review: Long All Around

Big, busy week.  Three wks out from the big day, it had to be a big week of running for me.  On top of that, this is when the semester gets really busy.  

I got some good runs in Mon and Tues with friends.  Each day we did about 7-7.5mi.  One guy is running New York tomorrow, so we both encouraged and joked with him about his first marathon.  Wed is always busy, so I usually take it off in exchange for a solid 7-8mi on Thursday.  However, this week I had a bunch of assignments and a big PChem test on Friday, so my Thurs was spent studying.  That meant that I was well-rested going into my longest run of my preparation.  I even took it easy halloween night in order to get some good sleep.  

Now to the run.  The plan was to double the 11.2mi loop in Percy Warner Park.  My running partner has been sick and battling IT band trouble, and she ended up turning around about mile 3 or 4, so I went most of the way solo.  I felt like I started really feeling good about 6-8 miles and was keeping a faster than usual pace (around 9:00/mi).  After finishing the loop counterclockwise I refilled my bottle and ate a granola bar and then hit the loop clockwise.  This was the second time I've done the loop in reverse(clockwise) and it is definitely harder!  Percy Warner is a geographical anomaly - I think it is uphill in every direction.  I was pretty pumped going into the 2nd loop and seeing the mile markers countdown was a big boost.  About mile 16 is when I started feeling it.  My legs were just feeling fatigued.  As the mile marker number got smaller, I knew the mental and physical test was only going to increase.  I'm big in self-motivation and encouragement so I was talking to myself - knowing that I was not going to be stopped.  Crossing 18mi made it the longest run for me, but going past 20 was incredible.  At that pt I was feeling every step from my toes through my hips.  When I finally came down the final hill to the parking area and stopped, MAN, my legs were hurtin!  I just wanted to sit down.  I got to the car quickly, stretched a little, and drove back to campus.  Hands down, this was the best ice bath I've had.  I drank too Ensures, showered, stretched a little, and ate half a pizza.  I've been trying to rehydrate.

In other news, The Gators are getting me pumped up!!  Stick it to the Dawgs.

I may run a little bit tomorrow depending on my schedule.  I'll mostly be sleeping and studying for three tests though.  Sunday's sleep-in is going to be amazing, especially with the time change.

Cheers.