Friday started for me on Wednesday morning. While I struggled on an 800 meter sprint around the track, my body and soul decided to bring me to a screeching haul. The workout was 2 X 1200’s and then 4 X 800’s. The 1200’s were on the mark, but on the first 800, the week had caught up with me and I pooped out. I had nothing in me. So, I stopped. I grabbed my bottle and shirt and advised Amy who was drinking between her intervals that I was done and I was heading back.
There are days you have it and there are days you don’t. Wednesday was a don’t day. The run on Saturday of 18, though it was completed took a lot out of me. I ran a tempo tread mill run with Ann Marie on Monday which was hard, but not a problem. Then Monday arriving at work until 6:15AM on Wednesday morning while I stood out on the track with no mojo in me, it was a whirlwind trip.
Work stress, home project stress, hard swim on Tuesday and though it was not stress, my parents came in for a visit. Just adding everything together put me in a funk.
It happens, the funk that is. You cannot control everything in your life, but manage it the best you can. My parents visit was nice. They are excited about their next journey in purchasing a new home. It was good to see the excitement on them about the area, the home and what they are going to do once they buy. Work, is work. You have good days and not so good days. This week, not so good, but next week is another week. The home project that I thought would take a week will not be finished in time for when the girls get home from Boston. Two weeks of stripping tiles, Wonder Board, paint and applying all new tiles, Wonder Board and paint. The tile design I wanted to match the Mud Room was discontinued. This meant searching for almost a week for new tile. Painting bathroom vanities sounds like a good and cheap job, but man, is it time consuming. Layer after layer of paint to insure curing is correct. Next time, I buy a new vanity. Tiling a small floor seems easy. I have tiled 5 rooms in our home so far, but this one is tough. A small space to work in which means only a few rows of tiles can be laid down and cured before you can start again. The room is uneven, so the calculations of the tile cutting has to be precise or the lines will slant. The tub is angled from back to front adding more calculations.
It will get done, but not as fast as I wanted.
Work, the home project and actually taking care of a full house even when no one is home is a full-time job as well. I drive home at lunch to let the dog out, eat lunch, drive back to work. At the end of the day, I am back home working on the project, cleaning, cooking and managing the house. With my family gone I can appreciate how much it takes to run a home. Not as I don’t do my fair share, but things run smoother with 4 than with 1.
Wednesday at 8:15AM, I made a conscious effort to start to prepare for Friday. Friday is the long run of 20 miles. I needed to wrap my head around this run so I would not have a dud of a run like the one I had out on the track.
The rest of Wednesday was dedicated to eating and drinking. I usually do right on these two accounts, but I focused more on it for Friday. Wednesday night, I was in bed by 9PM. I wanted to ride the Reality Ride on Wednesday night, but work prohibited for it. Right now, I can say, I am glad I was stuck at work.
Thursday brought on an easy 3 mile run and a half and hour of stretching. More fluids, I ate lightly every 2-3 hours and by the time dinner came, I was not starving. I ate dinner after working on the project for 2.5 hours and then headed up to bed. 8PM.
On a 20 mile run, you need to treat it as race day. You prepare for it 36-48 hours before with fluids and nutrition and set out all your gear the night before.
Friday at 3:50AM. I am standing in the kitchen eating a PBJ sandwich, sipping Gatorade and plotting what I need to do on this run. 4:15AM, out the door. I headed over to the McFarland Parking lot of the Big Creek Greenway to drop a gallon of Gatorade before heading to LTF. This gallon was at mile 11. With the humidity and heat even this early in the morning, the Gatorade at this point was needed.
I met Bob, Jay, Todd and Evan in the parking lot at 4:50AM. The goal was to run the 15 mile loop I had designed. Bob, Jay and Evan were running at 8:23’s and Todd and I at 8:11’s. The 3 8:23’s left 3 minutes before Todd and I with the perceived notion that we would meet up with them at the end. Then Bob and I would refuel after the 15 and finish up the 5 through the streets of Alpharetta.
Time is a constraint today, so the rest I will give the Cliff Notes to you:
Todd and I for some reason caught the Bob, Jay and Evan 2 miles into the run. Too fast. We eased off and let them stay ahead of us. The run was good. Todd and I kept a nice pace throughout the hills and flats. Bob was having my track day so he peeled off early. Jay and Evan motored on with Todd and I 20 clicks behind.
We hit the refueling station, filled up and needed to take off to keep the time. Ronald Regan was easy out and on the way back up hill was an ease again. This is where Todd and I moved ahead of Jay & Evan to hold our pace.
All the way back was trying to hit the marks in time. The mind plays games and for a couple miles I thought we were off pace even when the pace was faster? Figured out that the course on the way back was shorter. We hit the lot at 2:00:19 for a little less than 15 miles.
I refueled and took off at 2:00:48, 12 seconds ahead of plan. I cruised down Morris, no dogs in sight, onto North Point, then onto Windward. I heard a “cat call” and honking from a car merging onto 400 North. Ann Marie was giving me a little motivation, which helped. Thanks.
I cruised up Windward, left on HWY 9. Little tougher on that corner to hold pace, but I eased off and regrouped knowing that Henderson and Westside were places to make up time. I hit Henderson, took a gel and drank while I sped down the first portion. The rollers were no issues as my only thought at this point was to finish! Cumming street, then Westside straight down. When I hit Westside, the pain was there, the sweat was pouring, the heart was pounding and the breathing was erratic. Little more than 1 mile. I took off and made the turn onto Webb Bridge over 400 then onto Morris.
I had plotted that I needed to hit the fire hydrant on Morris right before the hill for 20. When I hit the hydrant the watch read 2:40:33 for the full 20 miles. I pushed a negative pace on the last 5 miles.
I was done. I cooled down by jogging up Morris to the entrance of LTF. I met Jay and Todd, talked to them for a minute and then saw Bob. I gave Bob some encouragement well knowing he is in a funk on the long runs like I am on the track. Bob can do this training and the long runs, he just needs to prepare.
Heading in I saw Evan. That run was the longest run he had ever done. Coming in on Todd and my heals, the boy is going to be a dangerous runner.
Number 2 is in the books. This ends another week of training and the last day my family will be away. Friday has turned out to be a good day.
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