October 15 – October 21 Total Mileage – 37 miles
Last week I said that I was looking forward to this week because it was a taper week. So I was wrong. Now, not completely my fault, but alas my long run that was supposed to be 12 miles, turned into a long run that was 18 miles. How does that happen you ask? Well I have to go to Denver next week for work and I figured (aka my wife convinced me) that landing back in Sac late at night, then trying to leave early in the morning for an 18 mile run was probably not the best idea. I could not argue so alas my taper week is moved to next week.
It needs to get here quick. By my third run of the week (5 miles) my legs were totally spent. I’ve been eating extra bananas and “good” carbs to try to help with the muscle fatigue but no luck. I was quite concerned heading into 18 miles. I got up early and was out of the house by 6:45 am. To get to 18 miles I knew that I would have to change up the route so I headed towards "old downtown" Roseville, towards Luke's preschool and back. I got into a good rhythm early and I could tell that this was going to be much better than last week. At mile 8 I grabbed a gel. I have not learned to take one on the run yet, but I'm working on it. I was ahead of my normal pace at 10 and 13.1 miles. I grabbed another gel at mile 14 - home stretch. Miles 15 and 16 fell by the wayside and then I came to the fork in the road. Do I continue down Fiddyment Farms, or through Sun City. I knew that I would be a little over the 18 miles, but a little walk after 18 would be good for me to stretch out. I hit 17 then 18 and a little voice in my head said "go for it." "No" I thought to my self. "Stick to the program."
I couldn't help myself, my legs were feeling strong and I still had water left. So that was it, it was time to go for 20. I got to 18.75 miles and I hit a wall. My legs began to cramp and I started to realize that this may not have been the best idea. Then again, even with me pulling back I still finished with a time of 3:46 for 20 miles. Just another 10k to add on... Seriously...
On a side note, please remove your caps in a moment of silence for my Black VFF Bikilas. After 379.85 miles, I finally wore through the inner lining and the sole is so thin you can almost see through it. I know that it sounds weird but I’ll miss them. They got me through the SF Giants Race and a countless number of training runs. Now I’m going to go back and “dance with the girl that brought me” so to speak and slip back into the Blue VFF Bikilas (my first VFF’s). I have a feeling that these may not make it to CIM since I may wear through them as well. I estimate that I have somewhere between 150-175 miles to go before CIM on top of the mileage that I have already put on them.
Off to Denver!
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