MENTAL MEGA MARATHON (Almost)

What a difference a day makes. I was wiped yesterday and went to bed at 9:00. Good sleep. Only woke up two times. YEAH! Woke up at 5:30 refreshed and ready to rock.

Had a good breakfast, packed up the car and Peanut and I were off. Dropped her off at the gym at 8:00 and headed to Waterfall Glen. The weather was absolutely perfect. Around 70 degrees and sunny when I started. I had a good plan. Run the entire loop (9.5 miles), stop back at the care to reload with fluids and gels, and do another 3.5 out and back, for a total of 16.5 miles. My plan called for an almost three hour run, and I figured I could get that done in just a little over three hours.

My legs were a little stiff when I started, but that's normal for me. I do better the farther I go. The first 3 miles are always the hardest. Ran into a friend triathlete on her bike. We stopped and chatted about our races last weekend. She did Harbor Lights and is doing Steelhead next weekend, her first half! She's going to do great. You rock, Lisa!

The thing about the path at Waterfall Glen--it is incredibly hilly. It seems like you are always running up or down, with just a smidge of flats in between. (Honestly, there really isn't much flat to speak of.) My goal was to run as much as possible, maybe walk up the hills and during nutrition/hydration breaks.

Well, I'm proud to say, I ran up every single one of those hills! EVERY ONE! The entire 16.5 miles I did not walk up one hill. I felt really good. I kept my heart rate exactly where it should be, and I only made one small error in my hydration plan. I stopped at my car after 9.5 miles, and instead of taking all four bottles, I only took three. I skipped the second one filled with only water. Bad mistake, but luckily it didn't cost me. I won't do that again. I have found that I need to drink water with my Nuun/Carbo Pro mixture, as well as my Thermolyte tablets and E-Gels.

It was a great run and I felt really good when I was done. My legs were tired, buy my stomach, etc. felt amazing. Nutrition/hydration is a really big thing for me, one that I'm most worried about at IMKY. I hope I'm getting it down. The two halfs and long rides/runs are helping.

After my run, I picked up Peanut at the gym and headed home. Had a good meal, then went with my son to the fitness center. It felt really good to swim an easy 1000 meters, sit in the hot tub and take a nice shower. (You remember I didn't get to swim yesterday because it took me SOOOOO long to complete my ride!)

As I'm writing, the Athlete Guide for IMKY is printing. YOW! It's really getting close. I'm both excited and nervous.

I hope to have another great sleep. Tomorrow I'm planning a warm up/core/strength/short run on the treadmill session (15-30 min.), followed by a 1:15 to 1:30 tempo swim. Should be a nice, easy day compared to the last five!

For you HRM number geeks, today's numbers are as follows:

Distance: 16.5 miles
Time: 3:06
Zone: 3 (mostly)
AHR: 145 (perfect range)
MHR: 189 (one of those crazy hills I'm sure)
% MHR: 73 to 95
Calories: 1,580

Hope everyone had as good a day as me! PTL!

Until next time--God bless!