Monday, August 25, 2008

Why running scares me less than biking (and a boring run report)

I had a great 11miler on Friday. I think Fri afternoon may be my optimal long run time. I have had such good ones on Fri, I think it is because it is a symbolic way of getting far away from whatever has happened during the week and serves as a nice demarcation between work week and weekend. It has been really nice.

I was worried about 11 miles since I hadn't run that distance since just before my halfM last year. I brought my trusty running juice and a pack of sports beans. I have been debating with myself whether or not I actually need to fuel these runs but I know I go from just fine to just awful with very little notice so I am erring on the side of caution.

The first 5 miles went by so quickly. I subscribed to a techno-workout podcast and, despite the fact that the rest of my running playlist is mainly made up of Billy Joel and assorted random pop-rock from all the decades, the podcast was a nice large chunk of time and it has intervals should I choose to do them.

I ran the Burke Gilman trail which runs right in front of my house and has lots of real estate to do long runs. At mile 5.5 I was to a part that is a bit narrow and I was not happy about how much bike dodging I had to do. At the turn around (~5.75mi) I still felt great but decided to eat the beans. I usually have a hard time downing the whole package at one time (same with shot blocks or sharkies and of course Gu) but decided I would so that a) I would get the full 100cals as designed and b) I didn't have to carry the open package. This turned out great. I think I really felt the kick in energy and had no trouble the rest of the way back, even picked up the pace a bit at the end. I also never found myself dying for a bathroom break (which I used to ALWAYS need after 5miles, like clockwork). There were moments when I would have liked to see a Honey Bucket but I was really OK. The beans and (too much) water made my stomach feel a bit sloshy but nothing bothersome.

The one downer: my new shorts. I bought a pair of shorts to replace my old cotton bike shorts circa 1996. But WHAT THE HELL, I chaffed through my shorts! So needless to say that is the last we'll be seeing of those shorts and the $16.99 that purchased them. Now my mission is to find an exact replacement of the `96 shorts.

I am really tempted to jump my mileage up a lot and disobey Hal but I am going to try not. When I got home I was so energized I decided to walk to 7-11 to pick up some recovery food (OK read: I really wanted crappy food, I'm working on that) so I walked ~1mi to the store where I witnessed a bike versus car situation.

The person looked fine despite not wearing a helmet (idiot) but the scene was so scary looking. Ambulance and fire truck, two police cars, witnesses all around. It can just happen so quickly. This was my initial fear about Tri training and even though my new found love of cycling has pushed the fear back a bit, scenes like this make me realize the fear is still alive and well.

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