Phew! I was really procrastinating doing today’s long run. It was 90 degrees when I finally decided to roll out of bed, and my run was in solid 87-degree weather with a 45% humidity. The sun was out but there were clouds making for some relief, but it was still a pretty consistent hot. I put in my head, “Just log the miles,” and “Don’t worry about time.” To wit, I had some 9-minute miles in the mix. Here are my details from today’s run:
Of course, being Saturday, I listened to NPR’s On the Media for the first loop of Central Park, and I’m starting to think there’s something to the hypothesis that listening to that program really slows me down because almost as soon as it stopped, I started to go fast. Granted, this was right about the completion of mile 6, at which point I had just consumed a PowerGel, and at which point I was stopping at a water fountain. Those two factors could also have contributed to my jettison (coupled with the dance song “Girls” that had just come on) rather than the stop of talk radio, but after having a few long runs with slower first loops, the “On the Media Hypothesis” is starting to develop data toward making it the “On the Media Theory.”
There’s something really great to share from today’s run: I didn’t have shin pain! It seems the pain that was prominent in the medial area of my right lower leg was diminished. A couple days ago I iced it when going to bed, and I’ve had two days of running rest because of work conflicts. No physical problems to report in today’s run other than I just was not about to put on afterburners in this heat at this time of day (3:30pm-ish). I’m also carrying 2-3 lbs. of more weight than I really want right now. I think it came as a combination of having a lot of protein from Naked Juice Protein Zone consumption plus weights, but maybe also because of caloric coconut water, which I was drinking like, um, an animal that can’t get his fix of coconut water. Today’s run I stopped frequently at water fountains, which helped me stay hydrated over the run as well as performing, though I started to get shivers toward the very end in the last mile, presumably because I was dehydrated.
I did get a bit faster in the second loop again. Part of that was desire, part of that was competitive spirit that turned on when I saw some rivals I could pick off (I picked them both off, but one overcame me bigtime), and part of that was confidence because I’d just completed one loop and was familiar with the weather.
So I got in my long run for this week! Slow, but I was seeming to recall I wasn’t big on time in June last year. I hope that was the case, but I’m trying less to care about time now and just care about logging miles. The hope is that I’ll get faster without paying too much attention to time.
And only a PowerGel before the run, other than some fat-free plain yogurt with granola, agave nectar, and cinnamon. I had that yogurt concoction after my run, too, as well as some chocolate milk and water. I’m nursing a green tea as I write this!