Today’s 20-miler had a nice little boost. A breast-cancer awareness walk was finishing in the park when I was in it. In my second lap, one of the trucks driving and cleaning up stuff had a guy in the back throwing bottles to runners who caught up to him. He threw me a bottle of Propel in Peach flavor. I thought I might have been getting regular water, which probably would have been better because I would have avoided the synthetic aftertaste, but it was a little boost of hydration during a run when I didn’t stop for water! After my third lap and onto my lower loop, I caught the truck again and this time another guy passed me an Aquafina bottle. That was definitely refreshing and helpful when my performance was really dipping.
Not bad today, though. I was working a couple days on a film and while I tried to get out late Friday night for a run, I walked a few houses before I turned around, my face tired, telling me to get to bed. The fear was the calltime would be another punishing hour. I ate pasta for lunch both days, and I think that helped me to have a fairly decent first couple loops. I did the 20 miles in 2:32:00, or 7:35s. Here are the deets:
My splits got considerably better in the second loop compared to my first. The reason was likely that I had amongst me a runner just a little faster than me, with whom we traded the lead maybe a couple times before I eventually passed him. It is seeming that a little competition makes a good difference on my time, and it has seemed that way before, too. However, come the third loop, I was really starting to drag. I started to bargain to try to stop at 3 loops but I got myself to continue. It seemed I was pooping out inside the 17th mile. I noted, but resisted having one, that PowerGels are given out around Mile 18 in the NYC Marathon.
The temperature and overall weather was definitely favorable. The whole run was cloudy with the threat of rain. It did sprinkle for maybe a few minutes but it stopped and never resumed. The first 3 loops were 65, and the thermometer climbed to 66 for the lower loop I did at the end. Humidity was around 60% but really negligible. Since there was no sun, I probably lost less weight than I would have were it sunny; I started around 176 lbs. and got to about 171 lbs.
After I finished, my calves did not feel good. I was hobbling a bit and they were sensitive. I think I simply worked them, that’s all, and they didn’t feel injured. The ice bath I took afterwards, though, hopefully helped.
I’m happy with my improved pace in the first 12-13 miles, though. I would like to be faster but I also want to be patient. Looking ahead this week, finding time to run looks to be a challenge. I wonder if there’s something I can do in place of it if I can’t get out to Central Park and get adequate rest, too.