May!

I keep coming here and staring at a blank screen, but the words won't flow. So I have been quiet. Do you ever feel like you don't have anything NEW to say?

To get the goal stuff out of the way, in April I ran 106.42 miles. That is a new monthly mileage PR for me, so YAY! I didn't lose any weight, but I didn't gain any either, so I'll take that as a WIN since April is a notoriously horrible month for me, with my birthday and Easter all in there. Everything else is pretty status quo.

Last week (Marathon Training Week 11, for those who are keeping track) I ran Tuesday (6 miles, 10:29 pace), Wednesday (6.11 miles, 10:12 pace) and Sunday (16 miles, 10:57 pace) for a week total of 28.11 miles. For the first time since my shin weirdness in week 5, I actually missed a run. That's one run missed in 6 weeks. I'm pretty proud of how well I'm doing so far.

My long run this week, as I said above, was 16 miles. I was planning on doing it on Saturday, but I just couldn't bring myself to fight with the god-forsaken WIND. Wind gusting 30+ mph. Wind that blew my great big basketball hoop that sits next to my driveway DOWN. So, yeah, I declared a wind delay on my long run. (I was also planning to do a recovery run on Sunday, but with my long run pushed to Sunday, I got no recovery run in last week, which is why I missed one).

I didn't want to run in my neighborhood on pavement, since my legs have been feeling the pounding lately - I'm sore. I opted for a local trail loop in Rollins Savanna, where one loop is ~5.5 miles long, so I figured 3 loops - done. Easy. I posted it up on our running club site in hopes that I might get some company.

Sunday morning, I was up early, had my coffee and breakfast, and I was feeling good. I packed a small cooler, figuring I'd stop between each loop to refuel and fill my handheld. I packed up all my stuff, remembering sunscreen even, and bodyglided up my feet and my bra line (got some chaffing there in my 14 miler). I was wearing my new favorite outfit on its long run debut.

The top is fila, with a pocket for my ipod, and the skirt is my gym girl ultra from skirt sports. I'd worn it on shorter runs and been happy with it, and the weather Sunday was supposed to be warmish and sunny. I also wore a new hat that I'd won from Marcia last year, but not yet worn before.

I met 3 people from the club for my first loop, and it was nice to have the company early on. It felt chilly at the start (mostly due to the wind) but I warmed up as soon as we got going. I had hoped to start slow, because I tend to bonk later if I don't, but with all the chatting, I wasn't paying a lot of attention and it was definitely faster than I meant it to be. That said, I never felt like I was pushing, and I was talking a lot, and I never once walked or felt like walking that first loop. (1 - 10:44, 2 - 10:26, 3 - 10:28, 4 - 10:18, 5 - 10:20, 6 - 10:39)

After the first loop, I said goodbye to my running buddies, filled up my handheld with half powerade (what they're using on the Grandma's course) and half water, took a GU, put sunscreen on, and headed back out. I was still feeling really good, but I vowed to try to slow it down. I also started to take walk breaks every mile or so to drink - I am so bad at running and drinking at the same time. On this loop, I got high-fived twice from a runner, who shouted encouragement. This made me smile - I could have really used him on the 3rd loop! I also felt the beginning of some thigh chaffing at the edges of my compression shorts under the skirt. I adjusted the shorts, and didn't feel it anymore. (7 - 10:38, 8 - 10:18, 9 - 10:49, 10 - 11:48 (more GU))

At mile 11, after the second loop, I used the bathroom and realized I had MAJOR chaffage happening. Stupid. I am so out of practice with summer clothes, that I had forgotten to body glide there. Luckily, I'd brought it with, so at least I could minimize any further damage. I did that, refilled my handheld, emptied my shoes of rocks, and hit the last loop. I was tired, for sure, but still feeling ok. I was taking more frequent walk breaks now though, and feeling the wind SO much more. I'm not sure if that was because it picked up, or if I'd just HAD it at that point. But the wind on the last loop beat the shit out of me. Still, it was great to look down at mile 13.11 and see 2:20 on my watch (that's still my half goal for this weekend) but shortly after that, the bottom fell out of this run. My toes on BOTH feet (not just my wonky right foot) cramped up so badly that I was forced to walk several times because it was agonizing. It was a huge slog until about 15.25 when I started to fell better in my feel, but had mentally checked out. Gah. Of course the last mile was STRAIGHT into the wind too. I DID have a woman tell me how cute my outfit was, but all I was thinking was that at least I LOOKED good. (11 - 10:50, 12 - 11:02, 13 - 10:55, 14 - 12:00, 15 - 11:33, 16 - 12:35)

All in all, I got it done. The only other stupid thing I managed to do was to sunscreen everything except my neck, so I am sporting a lovely pink v-neck today. I'm hoping to get a recovery run done tonight, but my right foot is still sore, so I'm going to play that one super super easy.

Congrats to all the runners this weekend - I'm going back to reading race reports!