So after bragging about how strong my runs have felt, I went out and ran a sloppy tempo run on legs o' jello. It happens. The schedule called for a 2-mile warm-up followed by a 3-mile tempo run followed by a 1-mile cool down. When I took off for the 3-miles of tempo, my legs didn't immediately respond. It's of course HOT in Charlotte right now and hydrating properly is more important than ever, but not always possible. And that's my excuse for what I was feeling during this run. And what I was feeling was that at any next step I would fold like paper. Though my knees wobbled quite a bit, I didn't fall. I make it the whole 6 miles though the last mile included more walking than I'd care to admit.
This third week of marathon training I added an extra 'speed workout' in the form of the 'Miles of Mooresville.' I love this event! It takes place one Friday evening a month during the summer and the first one was Friday, June 18th. The race lengths are 1 mile, 2 miles and 3 miles, with approx. 20 minutes between each event so that you can run all three. It's timed, well organized, fun, but incredibly hot.
I headed out from my place at 5:15 pm to head 45 mins North for the 7pm start. It took an hour and a half to get there due to terrible traffic! Why anyone lives North of Charlotte and deals with that traffic everyday, I will never understand. I also plan to find a new route before next month's event. My A/C in my Jeep has been broken for 7 years now. I know, I know, but it really hasn't been an issue until this year when I'm driving to Adam's via the interstate on a regular basis. The windows down and moving provides a nice breeze and keeps me relatively cool but when you're stuck in traffic, you just roast. So by the time I got to the event, got my bib number and timing device, I'd sweat out at least a quart of water. I grabbed a 12 oz. bottle of water and downed it before getting to the starting line.
The organizers reversed the course this year. This is the second year for the event and the organizers had requested feedback to make the event more attractive. I think someone must have suggested that the previous ending, which was up hill, was not a fun finish. The 'new' course started off down hill, for about .25 mile then a vicious uphill. The uphill is long and steep. Then you turn a corner and get to climb a slow incline. Then the course flattens out to the end. I think the idea was to go for a faster finish.
I had already decided to concentrate on the first two races and then use the third as a cool down. The first race my bronchial tubes were burning. It was so hard to breathe! The sun was out and the temp was in the 90s and I was pushing as hard as I could. I felt terrible! And the only thing I got for this was an 8:12 mile. Worse than last year by about 30 seconds. Ugh! The second race was the 2-mile race which was 2 loops of the course which meant two times up that horrible hill! This time my stomach was aflame. Good thing there was nothing in it or I'd have lost it. I finished at an 8:38 pace. Which I felt better about than the 1-mile. I decided not to run the 3-mile run and to save it for my 10 mile training run the next day. I grabbed my race tech tee and free beer and watched the third race.
Several folks from Charlotte and from the Meetup group came up for the races. We all complained about the traffic and the heat. A couple of guys were asking if Adam was coming to run. They know Adam is fast, but they've never run with him. I think they were looking forward to competition. Adam always has a hard time getting out of work at a decent time and Fridays are the worst. Add traffic and he was barely there in time to get registered to run the 2-mile race. He rocked it! He finished in 11:01 or a 5:31 pace. He landed in 2nd place. That's only because a 23 year old kid from Chapel Hill (via Nashville) named Brock Baker came to town to visit a friend and decided to join a racing event. He won all three races and ran the 1-mile at a 4:43 pace.
So with about a dozen people up from Charlotte, we planned to celebrate after the event at the Brickhouse Tavern in Davidson. We all headed there after the last race and got a big table on the side porch. It was after midnight before we headed out. So unfortunately I slept in on Saturday and missed my window to run my 10 mile training run before it got too hot. So I moved it to Sunday. Unfortunately Sunday was the hottest day of the year so far. Even starting early was still pretty toasty. I managed to get in the mileage, but due to continuous side stiches the last 1 1/2 miles included walking than I should be doing. I was at least a minute off the pace I needed for my long run.
Overall, I think heat is contributing more to being off pace than anything else. I feel like my legs want to run and want to push the pace. My bronchial tubes and ab muscles are not completely on board. Tonight's speed workout calls for 12 - 400m, on the first day of summer. Nice.
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