Twenty-Two Miles

In two runs.

Thursday, July 17, Sweet Sixteen:

Sixteen miles on my favorite road along the tracks. The bad: 74 degrees with a dew point of 69 (warm & humid), rocky dirt trail (soft, hence slow), little wind. The good: It’s my favorite trail despite its failings, it’s FLAT as can be, there are no cars (or people, for that matter), and this morning I saw deer, racoons, foxes, a young pheasant, and innumerable rabbits. As I ran in the pre-dawn semi-darkness the silhouette of a blue heron, or perhaps a great egret, floated by overhead. Such magnificent birds. And of course I was treated to the symphony of wakening birds of all kinds, most of which I can’t even identify by song. By all measures, this was a great run.

The plan was to run SLOW in conditions like this, and that part of the plan certainly succeeded. The hip flexors did not hurt, nor did anything else that I worry about. The lisfranc joints in the right foot bothered a little after mile 12; I probably twisted the foot a little on a rock or something. Water every 2 miles, caffeinated gel at 4 & 12, regular gel at 8. Splits: 10:03, 9:05, 9:07, 11:32, 10:10, 9:42, 10:09, 9:34, 9:52, 10:12, 10:54, 21:33 (2 mi), 10:19, 9:54, 10:10, total 2:42:15, pace 10:08. I’m happy, it's a masterpiece.


Tuesday, July 15, Two-Toot Salute:

A lovely, uneventful run on my favorite rocky dirt road along the railroad tracks. Six miles, 61 degrees, dew point 51. Cool summer running. My legs felt like lead for the first quarter mile (day after dex?) but pretty soon everything was normal. I had felt some pain in the right hip flexors when I got out of bed (!), but that pain didn’t show up at all during the run.

I met a train on the way back, the engineer giving me two short toots as I waved. Love that! Then it thundered past, spewing diesel exhaust, rattling and tooting off into the distance behind me.

Splits: 9:30, 9:11, 9:28, 9:28, 9:30, 8:56, total 56:02, pace 9:20. Good enough for a tricky dirt trail.

	Post-run breakfast: Irish oatmeal with organic flame raisins and dried cranberries, blueberries, organic strawberries, organic walnuts, organic nectarine, Dove dark chocolate, nonfat organic milk.
Recent lunch: Organic chard with dried cranberries, gluten-free cracker, sardine, cantaloupe.
	Recent salad/dinner: Organic romaine lettuce, cucumber, organic nectarine, organic chicken breast, blue cheese, pepper, organic red wine vinegar.