Monday, August 2, 2010

69- up north! let the fun begin!

I'm up north at last for my vacation time!  Which means a) good times and b) actual in-home internet!  Woo hoo!

So Monday is my 'recovery' day which is almost always an 11 mile day split into 6 morning, and 5 evening.  I headed out on my 6 mile loop at about 7:30am.  I didn't think my legs were tired when I got up, but they felt TERRIBLE before making it out of my apartment complex!  I thought they would loosen up- nope.  It was pretty much me dragging myself through 6 miles at about the same pace as yesterday's long run.  Which is acceptable for a recovery run, but felt less than ideal.  So yeah. 

Then, I hopped in the car and started driving with my tired legs and all.  I was thinking about how terrible my recovery has been lately, and it was kind of bumming me out.  Plus, I knew I had to get 5 more miles in this evening, which is such a short run but was mentally killing me.  So, I did what I always do when I'm overthinking a run while driving...pull over to the side of the road and just RUN.

I was actually driving by a lake in the middle of the state that I have thought about running around before.  Confession: I have a small obsession with running around lakes.  The thought of running around a 'new' lake is slightly more exciting than it should be.  Plus, driving through mid-Michigan is pretty much the most boring place on earth, and I was falling asleep behind the wheel.  I think it is unnatural too how when I drive anywhere, I think about how it would be to run in there, and picture myself running in the location at the side of the road....yeah, I think that's weird, but true.

So anyways.....

I 'eyeballed' the lake and comparing it to our lake, I figured it couldn't be too much further than 5 miles around.  Pulled into a roadside park, roadside change....and was off!  Since my legs felt so horrible earlier (and it had only been about 4 hours since) I literally told 'them' (ie my legs) outloud that they could go as slow as they wanted.  The first few miles felt stiff, but good.  Until I looked at the lake and realized that I was running with a serious tail wind.  Yeah, that pretty much turned into a headwind on the way back....Anyway, it was so nice to have a new route and the miles really clicked by.  I just sort of kept the lake in sight on my left and picked roads that *I hoped* leg around the lake and back to my car!  I knew my pace had to be wicked slow because of the wind and my slowness in general, so I decided in my head that I was running 8:45's.  The lake was great in that it had a path right along the water for much of it, unlike our lake where the road is away from the water.  Despite the wind, I got back to my car in one piece.  Imagine my surprise though, when the route ended up being 7.1 miles and I hit an average of 8:08/mile pace with very even splits!  Yeah, I was pumped!  Not because that is such an amazing pace, but because it felt about a minute slower!  I guess running is alot mental.

Back in the car, and I finished my drive nice and refreshed!  My parents had house guests over the weekend so there is an amazing amount of delicious food that I partook in for 'lunch' at 4pm.  I got to swim with my dad too, before he headed back downstate this evening.  Now, it's just me and my mom.  We've got some fun planned but we both also have to work on getting our prep ready (the life of two teachers!)  I'm excited though to be settled in, get to sleep, run, and enjoy not working for a week or so.

Yikes, this post was particularly long and boring.  Oh, well...thus is life!

Quick recap:
-13 mile day, split into a bad 6 miler and a random/good 7 miler
- up north and work free for 10 days
- good fooood :)

2 comments:

  1. i absolutely love how you can just randomly pull over and go for a run. talk about good planning. i don't think i'd ever have my shoes or a sports bra or something else essential!

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  2. I sometimes imagine myself running in new locations when I'm on a particularly long and boring stretch of road. Unlike you, I don't have the courage to pull over and just run. I find that to be amazing. Great job!

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