Long Run Review

Three weeks to the Portland 'Thon. After hitting a massive training wall, losing my will to lace up the shoes, and vowing to quit training and just run the damn race, I sucked it up and went out for my weekly long run on Sunday.

I barely managed 38 miles last week, and that included the 20 Cap'n Ron and I did last Sunday on the always tragic Burke Gilman Trail. So this week needs to step up a little bit so I can hit my peak mileage before starting to taper for the race.

So I put together a route from the Palace to Edmonds, ending at the health club, where The Colleague intended to meet me after her stretchy-bendy class. I built in a three our and fifteen minute window and headed off in the rain.

The run details are here.


The first two miles loop from the Palace, out around Bothell High School, and down into Downtoown Bothell. It's still weird running these streets that I grew up hating so much. The neighborhoods are still the same, and I remember who lived in which houses as I run past them. Miles 3-6 head out to Canyon Park and then back up toward my childhood neighborhood (my junior high, elementary school, etc). Weird. A lot of the same families live in the same old houses, and really not much has changed over the years. At mile 7 I realized I was running around 8:15 per mile and needed to slow down. But by this point I was feeling great and was running downhill with several flat miles ahead of me on the Burke Gilman Trail, so I just backed off a little bit and thought I was doing 8:30 or so.

I ran down through the Cascadia campus and picked up the trail there for a flat cruise down to Lake Forest Park.

During the stop for more water at Log Boom Park I checked my splits: 8:15 up to mile 14. Damn! Well, fuck it. Let's do this.

The next 4 miles were a brutal series of hills and windy roads up from Lake Forest Park to Mountlake Terrace. There's just no way around those damn things. But when I reached I-5 I was still averaging 8:20 and feeling strong. I sucked down a gel, realized I was almost out of water, but pressed on. All I had to do was get to mile 19 and then the last 2 were a downhill cruise into Edmonds where the hot tub and The Colleague were waiting!

Those of you who know the area know how "lovely" the main drag from Mountlake Terrace into Edmonds is. Screaming traffic and brutally crooked sidewalks. Still, I've run this stretch several times and knew what I was in for. I also know that I could, if I wanted to, veer off into the neighorhoods and get away from the main drag.

As I was checking my watch at the top of the hill and marveling at how good I still felt, I stopped feeling so good. I had about 3 steps worth of warning before my right calf cramped up. A big old golf ball right on the lower part of the muscle, and a big old F-Bomb from yours truly. 2.5 miles to go!


I stopped for a minute, thought about quitting and hitching a ride into Edmonds, stretched, tried a little jogging, and found a stride that I could manage, especially down hill. I'm sure I looked like I had crapped my pants or had suffered some sort of testicular trauma, but I was running and it didn't feel that bad. At one point, I thought the leg might stop hurting and give in to my willpower. But no, it kept on hurting and cramping up.

I limped into Edmonds 21.35 miles after leaving home, with plenty of energy left but a wounded muscle.

Of course Cap'n Ron yelled at me for running too fast, but after hitting the wall the week prior, I had to get out and convince myself that I could still do this race.

Here's what I learned:

•Running on hills and in varied terrain makes long days actually fun. No more long slogs on recreational trails.
•The taper is massively important. The only reason I could do this run is because I had taken a few days off before. My body was just getting beaten down by the training.
•If I hadn't cramped up, I could have maintained a pace around 8:15 for quite a while. When I look at my splits, there are a few 8:05 miles in the middle of the run, and an 8:20 at mile 21. Could I have done this or more for another 5 miles?
•It doesn't seem to matter how much I drink on the run, I still get dehydrated. The trick seems to be saturating the system in the day and hours before the run and then just maintaining during the run. The fact that The Colleague and I were out on the boat all night the night before, sampling wine and scotch to our late night (ok, early morning) content probably did not help the hydration much. Errrr.
•There is no time that Paolo Nutini's "Rewind" isn't a perfect song. Mile 20? Perfect.
•Body Glide. Don't forget the nipples. Never forget the nipples. Or wear a shirt that doesn't show blood stains.

That's all for now. I'm off to have some more water.