18ish miles
This morning at just before 6AM, my alarm went off. I had been to bed at a reasonable hour, and had even slept well all week. But for whatever reason, I felt bad. I was a little dizzy, and light-headed, and my stomach was a little "off."
But. Today was the 18 miler at Capitola. I could go back to bed, but then I'd just have to do the run on my own. And besides, it was probably just an early -morning things, and it would get better by the time I got down there. Plus, I had a ride - so I could sleep while my mentor drove.
We arrive at Capitola just after 7. My head was still kind of iffy. Even at the start of the run, I wasn't sure I would do it. I committed (to myself) to run the first mile, and see how it went. Then make a decision to go on or turn back. I left with my wave 2 crowd (made 3x larger by the addition of the South-bay team). Very quickly, I was left behind. I was dragging, and not feeling great. I walked a bit, jogged a bit, stretched, watched the surfers, and kept going.
At some point, I said "I'll go to the first water-stop." A bit later I ran into some of my teammates, Jen, Stacey, and JF. They were stopped at a restroom. Stacey was having foot problems, and I was still feeling bad. JF decided we could not run together because we'd just bring each other down. (Well, he IS a psychologist).
So the four of us headed up the road. And pretty soon, we hit the first water stop. I was starting to feel a bit better, so I kept going. By mile 5ish, I was feeling normal again. I have no idea what was going on... but it seemed to have passed.
From mile 5 to the turnaround, I felt great. I think it was around then that I knew I would do do the whole run. It's a beautiful run along the coastline. I've ridden East Cliff road many times, and run on West Cliff road even more times. So it was all familiar territory. The weather was fantastic.
Along the way, however, I found that I was missing my Gu and Endurolytes. I guess in my stupor of the morning, I hadn't packed them (they were in my bag, in the car, but not in my running belt). So... improvise. The waterstops had gummy bears (they're kinda like gu) and pretzels (good and salty).
On the way back along West Cliff, Jen pulled ahead of me, I'm not sure if she sped up, or I slowed down... Probably both. So I trudged along on my own. Back at the "Vegas" waterstop, I dropped of my long-sleeved shirt, grabbed a couple of Gu packets and spent a minute to watch the dancing girls.
The last stretch of the run always seems long. Around the harbor, I started running with Kelly from the south-bay team. We kept a decent pace, chatted about the team, our races, goals, etc. It was good to have something to take my mind off my legs, which at this point were getting a bit sore.
We came into the parking lot in just over 4 hours. When I take out the time stopped at waterstops, I think it was about 3:50. This is slower than I wanted to run, but given the way I felt in the morning, I'm just glad I got out and did it. When I got home, I got out the trusty google mapper. I don't know the "exact" route... But I got most of it... It was 19 miles. So that makes me feel a bit better. Still slower than I would have liked... but I'll take it.
Like all TNT events. Breakfast followed. We headed down to the beach for some food. I took the opportunity to drag a couple of my teammates into the water for a good post-run soak. The water wasn't nearly as cold as I thought it would be (according to Capitola Weather, it was 60 degrees). I had planned to get in to just over waist-height to get my hips (and that pesky IT band) under water. Unfortunately, this was just in front of the breaking waves. Rather than get knocked over every minute or so, I waded out to chest-deep water and got a great ice bath... then came back for my "healthy" blackened chicken salad. 5 weeks to race-weight!
But. Today was the 18 miler at Capitola. I could go back to bed, but then I'd just have to do the run on my own. And besides, it was probably just an early -morning things, and it would get better by the time I got down there. Plus, I had a ride - so I could sleep while my mentor drove.
We arrive at Capitola just after 7. My head was still kind of iffy. Even at the start of the run, I wasn't sure I would do it. I committed (to myself) to run the first mile, and see how it went. Then make a decision to go on or turn back. I left with my wave 2 crowd (made 3x larger by the addition of the South-bay team). Very quickly, I was left behind. I was dragging, and not feeling great. I walked a bit, jogged a bit, stretched, watched the surfers, and kept going.
At some point, I said "I'll go to the first water-stop." A bit later I ran into some of my teammates, Jen, Stacey, and JF. They were stopped at a restroom. Stacey was having foot problems, and I was still feeling bad. JF decided we could not run together because we'd just bring each other down. (Well, he IS a psychologist).
So the four of us headed up the road. And pretty soon, we hit the first water stop. I was starting to feel a bit better, so I kept going. By mile 5ish, I was feeling normal again. I have no idea what was going on... but it seemed to have passed.
From mile 5 to the turnaround, I felt great. I think it was around then that I knew I would do do the whole run. It's a beautiful run along the coastline. I've ridden East Cliff road many times, and run on West Cliff road even more times. So it was all familiar territory. The weather was fantastic.
Along the way, however, I found that I was missing my Gu and Endurolytes. I guess in my stupor of the morning, I hadn't packed them (they were in my bag, in the car, but not in my running belt). So... improvise. The waterstops had gummy bears (they're kinda like gu) and pretzels (good and salty).
On the way back along West Cliff, Jen pulled ahead of me, I'm not sure if she sped up, or I slowed down... Probably both. So I trudged along on my own. Back at the "Vegas" waterstop, I dropped of my long-sleeved shirt, grabbed a couple of Gu packets and spent a minute to watch the dancing girls.
The last stretch of the run always seems long. Around the harbor, I started running with Kelly from the south-bay team. We kept a decent pace, chatted about the team, our races, goals, etc. It was good to have something to take my mind off my legs, which at this point were getting a bit sore.
We came into the parking lot in just over 4 hours. When I take out the time stopped at waterstops, I think it was about 3:50. This is slower than I wanted to run, but given the way I felt in the morning, I'm just glad I got out and did it. When I got home, I got out the trusty google mapper. I don't know the "exact" route... But I got most of it... It was 19 miles. So that makes me feel a bit better. Still slower than I would have liked... but I'll take it.
Like all TNT events. Breakfast followed. We headed down to the beach for some food. I took the opportunity to drag a couple of my teammates into the water for a good post-run soak. The water wasn't nearly as cold as I thought it would be (according to Capitola Weather, it was 60 degrees). I had planned to get in to just over waist-height to get my hips (and that pesky IT band) under water. Unfortunately, this was just in front of the breaking waves. Rather than get knocked over every minute or so, I waded out to chest-deep water and got a great ice bath... then came back for my "healthy" blackened chicken salad. 5 weeks to race-weight!
