18 Mile Sunday

 Hello Monday!  I had a great weekend despite the rain  here,  I hope you did too. Friday I stayed in like a hermit, Saturday was full of horses, barn chores, and a dinner party with my college friends, and then Sunday was Runday.  

 I was supposed to run the Boston Blowout 30k Sunday an hour away in Fairfield, CT.  However, it has been down-pouring non stop since Saturday.  When I woke up at 5am to check the weather and leave for the race, it was still down-pouring.  The roads were already bad driving home Saturday night from dinner, and I DID NOT want to run 18 miles in the pouring rain.

I decided to eat the $18 entry fee, sleep in, and wait for a pause in the rain to run.  At about 9:30 there was a lull in the rain so I had breakfast and geared up.  Leftover blueberry pancakes from Saturday's breakfast (recipe coming)  with bananas and maple syrup.

I decided I was going to bust out the compression socks but it was still a little cool for shorts (and I have yet to find a great pair of shorts that don't chafe or ride up the entire time). I wore  moving comfort capris, compression socks, newtons, and a long sleeve running top with my camelbak.  The plan was to run a 10 mile loop with Olive, drop Olive off at home, and run 8 more with Stacie .  

I used the USTAF Route Tracker to plan the route.  The only problem is that route tracker did not tell me that road going through Cockaponset State Forest wasn't an actual road... more like a dirt trail.  A really hilly dirt trail.. which would have been okay if it wasn't after days of torrential downpours. 

This was one part of the road that was actually pretty solid but most of it was super muddy, with huge puddles/lakes in the road.  It got to a point where I stopped trying to avoid them and was running through the lakes.  Ten miles later I was a little tired and a lot soaking wet.  After dropping Olive off I quickly changed into dry socks and an old pair of sneakers.

This is the yard down the road- which is now a stream.  There was a light rain throughout the entire day but the neighbors properties were swamped from the rain overnight.   Little streams were now rapid rivers and back yards were under water.  Kind of amusing to see the change of scenery on my normal running routes. 

After my ten mile loop, I changed my shoes and grabbed Stacie next door.  She had not run any distance in a little, and had no races lined up, but like a champ agreed to run my last 8 miles with me.  It was great timing to have someone to talk to (besides the dog) for the last 8 miles.  I have been forgetting about time and focusing on making sure my runs "felt good"  so we stuck with my 1.5 miles running 1.5 minute walking program which also helped to pass the time.

It is SO NICE to chat with a friend during a long run or at least part of it.  Good conversation, a time to catch up, and in what other situations can you talk about bodily functions, runners feet, and just enjoy conversation that isn't forced or fake?  We agreed running is such a great way to catch up and spend time with friends. 

The run was slow overall, but with the steady rain and rolling hills I was happy.  My only goal is to do the distance and feel good doing it, and not to worry about the time.  Mission success because I felt great the entire 18 miles besides little things like a tight arch or crampy calf.  MUCH better than the 13, 14, and 15 mile runs I had last month. 

If you read the blog regularly, you probably know this is my second attempt at marathon training.  Last year I had to stop the week after my 18 miler due to some really bad tendinitis.  It feels really good to get back to where I was prior to the injury, a little lighter and feeling much better... and injury free!  All smiles after getting my 18 miler done. 

Lunch was a bagel margherita pizza.  It was delicious and was perfect for my "runger".  Instead of trying to devour an entire pizza, a bagel is perfect portion control.   Perfect post run lunch. 

The dog was happy to get a long run in after a week of cold and rainy weather, and I spent the rest of my Saturday doing chores, cleaning the apartment, painting furniture, snuggling the critters, and cooking for the week.  

Right on track for marathon training and a long run that felt good.

Another step closer to 26.2