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September 1, 2005
Wednesday's Rainy 15 miler
Wednesday's practice with the team was very short. The athletes ran two miles and then did a half mile on the track at race pace (6 min). We then did core body exercises - two sets of plank, reverse plank, side planks, and then scissor sit ups. We finished with a game of ultimate frisbee. I had to do a few errands and missed the formal running of the practice. The timing of practice was perfect because it just started to drizzle at the end of the frisbee game.
After practice I drove back to the camp where I am living and got ready to do my long 15 mile run. I was not that excited about running by myself for two hours in the rain but I figured at the very least I had to run for an hour. I decided to start with the Jader loop which is a course that is run all on dirt roads. It follows the lake for the first mile and a half and then crosses the street and proceeds for 3 miles along a dirt road with amazing views of mountains in the distance. By the end of the three mile road I felt pretty good and decided to climb a little bit more and get to one of my favorite dirt roads - upper Elmore Mountain road. This road is in the shadow of Mt. Elmore and has terrific views of Mansfield Mountain/Smuggler's Notch/Camels Hump in the distance. By the time I arrived on this road it was pouring. I was so relieved because for the first forty minutes it was drizzling and still incredibly hot and humid. The air quality felt oppressive and I wondered how it could possibly be so hot while it was still raining. Once the sky opened up and my cloths were sticking to my body completely it cooled off and I felt some relief from the humidity. I was carrying a water bottle and was laughing to myself about it because the rain was coming down in buckets that it was difficult not to consume rain water while I was running. It felt great to have the rain covering me and to feel the splash of the mud as I ran. I immediately picked up my pace with the coolness and forgot about the fact that I had to run for two hours. I did start to worry a bit about a power line falling so I started to run on the opposite side of the street of the wires. I soon decided to drop that worry because I did not think there was too much I could do about it if the line did drop. I ended up doing an out and back course and ran about 4 minutes faster on my way home. I was so happy to complete my goal of 15 miles. I should note that my inner thighs were sore from the lunges I had completed on Tuesday.
Today I have another 15 miles to run and again I did not do a morning run. I opted for more sleep so I could be alert for my classes. I will definitely be able to run at least 5 miles with the team today and I am scheduled to run with a friend who is a triathlete and former collegiate long jumper at 6. I am not 100% confident that I will be able to get in a third run because I may be picking up my new/used car today - suburu impreza! My high goal for running today would be to run 15 miles, maybe three 5 mile runs. My minimum goal will be to run 10 miles.
Posted by mary at September 1, 2005 11:41 AM
Comments
mary your rain run sounds nice. you are so motivated. how do all the miles feel? have fun w/your new impreza. liz
Posted by: liz at September 1, 2005 3:22 PM