I slept really well and deeply, but when that damn alarm went off, I thought I do not want to get up and could feel some soreness in my legs. HTFU. I turned off the snooze alarm, thinking that I'd let myself sleep a little longer (I'd wake up with the light anyway), and that I would just run on the treadmill, since it was most likely pretty hot already, and it doesn't take very long to get to the Y.
I'm laying there thinking HTFU you sorry excuse for an athlete, the clock is ticking, so I got out of bed and walked downstairs to the kitchen where I saw that it was only 5:05, so even though I felt like I had given myself a little gift of extra time, I still had plenty and could have made it to Waterfall Glen.
I poured myself a cup of coffee and grabbed a Power Bar Triple Threat (which I now only eat on mornings when I do a long run, race or big ride--on other days I have been eating a hardboiled egg on an English muffin with jam), started eating and drinking and got on the computer just to see what's going on. Of course, I had to pee like 4 times and also do that other thing a few times. One of the entertaining parts of training so much is that you are pumping a lot of calories through your body and are pretty much fired up most of the day, so you are processing at a high rate.
I think it was only 5:30 and I decided I should put the running clothes on and put my contacts in, and I immediately reached for my HTFU bracelet because I figured I'd need it today. And then I had a flash of FUCK IT and I decided I'd just run from home and get this motherfucker done.
I had poured myself a second cup of coffee, but didn't really want it, so I chugged like 1/2 can of Coke that was open from some other day in the fridge, suited up and was out the door running at 5:50. FUCK! I think that is the fastest I have gotten out the door for a long run. I was like not even entirely awake when I started running, and that was good, I suppose.
It didn't feel too hot yet, and the sun wasn't fully up, so I was probably not going to suffer too badly for the heat, but I could tell my legs were a little toasted, but too bad HTFU. Initially I was going to do 7.5 miles total out and back and then repeat, because I guess I decided I should run 15 miles however long it would take, which would normally be around 2:15 but today I'm running on asphalt and sidewalk and it's rolling hills so who knows? There is a water fountain 1.5 miles in and then again 2.5 miles in, so that plus the 12 oz. of flat Coke I was carrying was certainly enough for 7.5 miles or maybe even more.
Somewhere along the way I remembered there's a water fountain at the outdoor pool, and I thought, perfect, I will run there (it's about 5.3 miles), suck down water and some Coke, fill my bottle and get on my way. I didn't drink anything until I got there, and felt fine with the one cup of coffee, 1/2 can of Coke and maybe 16 oz. of water that I drank before I left. I ran into MJ at the pool, took a piss, and turned around to head home.
It was still not too hot out, and I had plenty of shade to run in which was great. But man, my legs were feeling the pounding on the pavement. Too bad, HTFU. I would look at my right hand with the HTFU bracelet and tell myself no walking, none of that today. It always feels good to be running by people on their way to work while I am thinking smugly to myself, "I'm an idiot because I'm running 15 miles this morning." I don't know why logically that makes sense, but it does!
When I was about a mile from home, I had to think about how I was going to do the remaining miles. My first thought was to run up and down the .3 mile hill from my house 9 times. Now, I know that sounds OCD-ish, but I have no problem doing all kinds of repeats of things (as you may know) in order to get distance and/or time in. Back at the ranch, I opened a fresh, fizzy can of Coke and took a few sips, went back outside with it, and left it by my front door.
I started up the hill, and thought what the fuck, I am so stupid, I should just do block repeats. If I run around what I call the "big block," it's 1.15 miles and rolling hills (of course), and so I decided I'd do that 4 or 5 times. This seemed like a better idea than running up and down the hill 9 times.
So I did the first repeat, and I was running a good pace, and I stopped briefly to swig some Coke, and it was still cold, and that was great. When I was on the 4th lap, I thought about stopping at that point, because it would be just over 15 miles, but I thought fuck it, HTFU I did that much last week let's add another mile. So I headed out for lap #5, and even though it hurt like a motherfucker, I got it done, and it was my second fastest lap out of the 5.
All in all, I did 16.37 miles in 2:27.46 for a pace of 9:02, which is faster than I thought I'd be able to go.
I'm eating a bowl of fruit even though I really REALLY want some fucking pizza right now. Even though I talk about how I eat all this crap, I really eat pretty cleanly for the most part. Although last night I had a Twinkie with my last beer of the evening ;) And I had a snack before dinner of some Pringles with sour cream. Oh well, I guess all those carbs helped me out today, eh?
Tomorrow is going to be an early morning repeat, since I am going to swim, bike and run and it's going to be hot, hot, hot, so I want to be in the pool swimming at 5:30AM. OMG, I am fucked, I think. Why am I doing this tomorrow? Because I want to do a stinking sprint race on Sunday.
Oh, geez, I am fucking out of my mind. But you know what? This is my idea of FUN! Going out there when your legs hurt and pounding out some miles and sort of half grimacing, half smiling while you are doing it and then just getting it done because a lot of life really is all about HTFU'ing when the chips are down.
Here I am post-run, suitable sweaty, but still standing!
1 comment:
you sexy bitch you....
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