Slow Saturday
There was an organized ride this morning in Mt. Vernon, IL, but seeing as that's an hour and a half away from here and I'd be going it alone, I was feeling very ambivalent about it. I told my husband that I was considering it but probably wasn't going to go. Little J woke us up briefly at 5:30 this morning (ugh), and when I had a little trouble falling back asleep I thought maybe...and then promptly fell back asleep.
So, instead of riding 60 miles this morning, I decided to go yard saling with my two guys (the older boys are with their dad) and then run later. We got going around 8:30 (way late for yard sales, but we have too much crap anyway) with the temperature at 73 degrees. As we drove around for the next 2 1/2 hours, I kept glancing at the gauge as the temperature rose to 85. Sigh...that lovely cool weather, squandered. Sigh...I'm going to have to run 8 miles in almost 90-degree heat. But hey, I was spending time with my family, and that's good too.
We didn't end up getting much. A Beanie Baby dog for J., a movie and season one of The Sopranos (which we've never seen but have heard a lot about), a box full of little toys for my classroom store (FREE!), and a book for me (Fortune's Rocks, by Anita Shreve) that I immediately started reading. Of course, when we got home it was time to eat (BLTs...mmm) and then I had to let my food settle.
And settle...
And settle...
Until finally, at 5ish (and after a snack), I started on that 8-mile run. The route I ran was 4.5 miles out and back because I was kind of planning to run 9. I was dreading the run, but the temperature wasn't too bad. I took a 32-oz gatorade bottle with me, which was a pain to carry, but I didn't have any better plan. The first two miles didn't feel so great, but then I kind of hit my stride. The numbers, however, don't necessarily reflect how I felt.
Mile 1: 9:35
Mile 2: 9:31
Mile 3: 9:24
Miles4-6: 11:21 avg. pace (Yeah, I don't really know what happened. I didn't FEEL that slow. But that's what the stopwatch says. This stretch had two big hills to run up, but I felt strong on them, too.)
Mile 7: 11:52
Mile 8: 10:45
I felt like I was taking it easy the whole time. I was never pushing, just trying to keep a nice, easy pace. I actually felt pretty good through mile 6.5 or so...yeah...half of what I need to be able to run in 1 1/2 months. Yikes.
Once I finished mile 8, I was pretty much done. I ended up walking the 9th mile home. Oh, well. Total time was 1:25:12, a pace about 40 seconds slower per mile than when I ran 9 miles on this same route a few weeks ago. Hmmm. Good thing I'm not competitive. :-/
So, instead of riding 60 miles this morning, I decided to go yard saling with my two guys (the older boys are with their dad) and then run later. We got going around 8:30 (way late for yard sales, but we have too much crap anyway) with the temperature at 73 degrees. As we drove around for the next 2 1/2 hours, I kept glancing at the gauge as the temperature rose to 85. Sigh...that lovely cool weather, squandered. Sigh...I'm going to have to run 8 miles in almost 90-degree heat. But hey, I was spending time with my family, and that's good too.
We didn't end up getting much. A Beanie Baby dog for J., a movie and season one of The Sopranos (which we've never seen but have heard a lot about), a box full of little toys for my classroom store (FREE!), and a book for me (Fortune's Rocks, by Anita Shreve) that I immediately started reading. Of course, when we got home it was time to eat (BLTs...mmm) and then I had to let my food settle.
And settle...
And settle...
Until finally, at 5ish (and after a snack), I started on that 8-mile run. The route I ran was 4.5 miles out and back because I was kind of planning to run 9. I was dreading the run, but the temperature wasn't too bad. I took a 32-oz gatorade bottle with me, which was a pain to carry, but I didn't have any better plan. The first two miles didn't feel so great, but then I kind of hit my stride. The numbers, however, don't necessarily reflect how I felt.
Mile 1: 9:35
Mile 2: 9:31
Mile 3: 9:24
Miles4-6: 11:21 avg. pace (Yeah, I don't really know what happened. I didn't FEEL that slow. But that's what the stopwatch says. This stretch had two big hills to run up, but I felt strong on them, too.)
Mile 7: 11:52
Mile 8: 10:45
I felt like I was taking it easy the whole time. I was never pushing, just trying to keep a nice, easy pace. I actually felt pretty good through mile 6.5 or so...yeah...half of what I need to be able to run in 1 1/2 months. Yikes.
Once I finished mile 8, I was pretty much done. I ended up walking the 9th mile home. Oh, well. Total time was 1:25:12, a pace about 40 seconds slower per mile than when I ran 9 miles on this same route a few weeks ago. Hmmm. Good thing I'm not competitive. :-/
I like to refer to these runs as LSD runs. Long, slow, distance. I think it has more to do with the distance traveled than the speed.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely nice to not have the time pressure. I would have been better off to not time my first few miles...then I wouldn't have had any expectations. Oh, well. I got in the miles on the schedule.
ReplyDelete