Nine Weeks Down, Nine Weeks To Go

You want to know what frustrating is? Spending a small fortune on small appliances that should help you stay in line with your training then grossly miscalculating a route and ending up with an extra 2.25m on your long run! That's frustrating! But all's good! No harm done, I think.

I was pumped, really pumped for this morning's long run. My schedule said that I was to do 16 miles. And I follow my schedule, to the letter. Always have. Today's plan was to go out and 16 miles later be back home. Not the case. Not sure how it happened, not sure if I just lost track of the time/distance run or what. When I finally figured out that I had gone out to far, it was to late to do anything about it except turn around and finish the run. 18.25 miles is what I ran. And the last 5 miles were brutal. Not because of physical or mental anguish but because the mother of all head winds was my trusty companion. My pace was drastically slower, my rhythm was totally whacked. I've done some hill work for strength, and these 5m sure felt somewhat like that.

I considered my options. A). I could call my wife or daughter to come pick me up at mile 16. B). I could just do it. Although option A was looking very tempting, I chose B. I was glad I did. Now, I just hope I've learned a valuable lesson: Plan your work(out), work your plan!

The pain in the ankles, knees and calves is similar to that which I felt when I started long runs for half marathon training. I am hopeful that with time, as it did in the past, that too will go away. For now its two Advils every six hours, lots of ice and active recovery workout tomorrow. The pool is looking awfully good!