First 10 Miler

Short story:

I successfully completed a grueling 10 miles on the hills. (1300 ft ascent, 1300 ft descent, for an average grade of 5%, including a continuous 0.6 mile hill with a 9 grade). Total time 2hr 10 min (13:04 min/mi average).

Longer story:

My first double digit run started out poorly, as I had turned off the 8 AM alarm. . . and didn't wake back up 'till 8:45 when the phone rang. I was supposed to be hitting the road at 9!

Add to that, my period started yesterday, and I am not real comfy with the whole tampon thing (sorry for the TMI, gents), so I'd really wanted to get up an hour early to get all set with that in addition to getting hydrated & fueled up. Anyway, that worked out fine, thankfully, but I was pretty agitated about it.

So anyway, the ringing phone was running buddy #2, who had gotten my email last night & was up for running. So, she was going to meet me and running buddy #1 at the 2 mile point (actually 2.3 miles) in my run . . . at precisely 9:30. (This God awful early timing had been dictated my running buddy #1's kid schedule today. Scheduling a group run is going to be a lot easier when all the kids enter college in a decade or so. . . as long as our knees last that long.) In my 15 minute window, I took care of the necessities, tossed back a couple tablespoons of yogurt & a few swigs of water, and got out the door right on time.

At 9:29, I arrived at designated meet-up point right on time for our 9:30 meet up. NO WAITING CARS! WTF?!?!? Last time I had told #1 that I'd ditch her if she wasn't there on time, but I hadn’t warned either of them this time. I am usually so easy going about lateness: pre-run, kid coordinating, whatever, no problem. I don’t mind being the first and waiting; but that’s not when I am mid-run!! This STINKS!

I decide to give them 5 minutes, no more. I paused my Garmin, stretch, watch the clock on my Garmin, stretch some more, struggle against unreasonably extreme irritation, and realize that #1 was bringing me water – both for swigging now & for picking up at Mile 8 for the final 2 miles. I am really steamed now; I was counting on that water. Lose-Lose. If I ditch them, I am being a bitch, AND I am waterless for 10 miles. If I wait, I will be a bitch to them anyways with recriminations, AND I get cold, stiff, & mess up my first 10 miler.  UGH. I figure they can run with each other, and I’ll take option LOSE #1 as the 5 minutes draws to a close. With my toe, in the snow, I draw an arrow & sign my initials to indicate my direction. . . look up the road once more. . .

Then, right at 9:35, #1 pulls up. Thank goodness. Apologies, swigs of water, phone call to #2. . . and I am calming down. However, I don’t want to wait another 7 minutes for #2. We’re outta here, and #2 will have to try to find us based on my abbreviated description of where we’re headed.

So, anyway, #2 caught up with us less than a mile later, found a place to pull off to park, and joined us.

Lessons learned: Have a drop dead time for meet-ups mid run. I think I’ll have a 5 min window.

Rule 1: Drivers get there first; runners leave if driver not there waiting. Period.

Rule 2: Don’t count on running buddy for water. Carry it, or stash it ahead of time.

We had a nice time together, and I agreed to forgive their lateness conditioned upon them agreeing to forgive my irritability. Next time, we’ll have a plan: they won’t be late; but I’ll leave if they are.

So, the actual running went fairly smoothly, but I felt tired and slow. I ran a bit slower than other similar recent runs (13:04 min/mi instead of upper 12s), but my heart rate was also a lot slower. Heck, I burned fewer calories doing 10 miles today than I did in 9 miles on the same route 5 days ago! I don’t know if it was the sudden waking, the early (for me) hour, overtraining, irritation, or what, but I just wasn’t gung ho to crank up the pace. I guess I was more nervous about the footing as a fresh coat of powdery snow combined with a hard freeze made the roads icy. I guess just didn’t feel as happy as I usually do running that route. My knees ached a bit, but my ankles and the rest of me was fine. I spent a lot of time with ice packs this afternoon, and took 600 mg ibuprofen, which has me feeling pretty decent. I’m already looking forward to my next run, so I guess I am doing OK.

The extra mile I added today (to make the 9 mile route I’d done before into a 10 mile run) was an out-n-back spur on a back road at the far end of my lollipop loop. It was amazingly beautiful. You drop into this pine grove and the pine forest aroma knocked me off my socks it was so rich and wonderful. There is a nice big loop back there (with a monster hill) that I could add to the route, but it’d add about 4 miles, so I’ll either have to wait for it until I am up to 13 miles (4 more weeks according to the plan), or park at the 2 mile cross roads, allowing for a 9 mile loop. Maybe I could do that next week as a shorter run? Can I make the 9 miler fit within my training plan soon? With kid commitments early in the week, and travel at the end of the week, the only realistic day this week would be Monday, which is technically still *this* training week, and that would make my weekly mileage a highly illegal 28 miles (max 26 this week, not to mention that’s just 2 days away). I guess I have to wait at least 10 days or so to explore that loop. I will make time to drive it ASAP, though, so I can make sure the roads connect the way the maps show them. Humph.

The total mileage felt long. I was slower my last mile than I usually am; I didn’t get that last mile burst of energy I usually do. I think I missed listening to my tunes, as I left the earbuds out of my ears most of the time since I had friends along. I should have plugged them in and tuned out a bit, especially when I was irritated with the waiting.