Wednesday, November 23, 2016

WWU - 10 Miles, WHEW!!!

I had hoped that this run would go well - the weather was looking great for running, and for me, that's been a huge issue.  Not gonna lie, more than six months of doing nearly all of my runs in 100% humidity has taken a toll and I was feeling like I'd never have a good run again.  Dramatic much?  Haha, maybe, but that's what being a runner in Texas will do to a person.  And even though a cold front was predicted to arrive on Friday, we've been skunked before, with the front stalling out just north of us.  However, the north wind started blowing early afternoon and the temps started dropping - WOOHOO!!!  Seriously, we were more than ready for this.

Saturday morning, my alarm went off and first thing I did was check the weather - gotta love being able to do that on my phone while still lying in bed.  This was what I saw:
YES!!!

I jumped out of bed and got myself ready.  I was a little hesitant about what to wear - sure, it was 45 degrees, but once you start running, you warm up to about 20 degrees higher than the air temperature - so that would make it 65 degrees, and in that case, I'd be wearing a short-sleeved technical shirt.  But it was windy and cold, and the "feels like" temperature was 40 degrees, so I ended up wearing a long-sleeved technical shirt and hoped I wouldn't overheat.  I know, I know - I complain for ages about it being too hot; but bring on the cold and it's a little more complicated.  I did check with the Runner's World What to Wear guide, and they said to wear a long-sleeved shirt, so I went with that.

So the run - oh yeah, that's what I should be talking about, right?  Well, considering my Saturday mileage for the last two months has ranged from 3.1 to 8 miles, I had a feeling that 10 might be a little challenging, to say the least.  And it was.  But I suspect for most recreational runners, doing 10 miles is just plain hard.  Diane and I did our intervals, although there were a few times when we took an extra walking break.  And while I did just fine running 8 miles the previous week, fueling with 24 ounces of Tailwind (which is 200 calories, or the equivalent of taking two GU's), I didn't feel quite as energetic, and ended up eating a few gummy chews that I had on hand.  I think the main issue is that because it wasn't hot, I didn't drink as much as I normally would, and all of my fuel calories were in the drink - I guess I'll have to force myself to drink more if I want to make Tailwind work as my fuel for the longer runs.

We ran a familiar route, but we were on the other side of the street for this run (we were on the sidewalk, so it didn't matter which side we were on).  Maybe they're always there, and we just don't see them, but we ran by a ton of cows, and what made it funny was that they were all facing the road, staring at us as we ran by:
Cary took this picture - she'd been by them before us, and thought it was funny enough to stop and whip out her phone.

On our way back, one cow had gone through an open gate and was standing below us (we were on a bridge), but it looked like he might be loose, so we slowed down to check.  Nope, we saw a bit of fence, and he was on the right side of it, which was good...loose cows around vehicles are never a good combination.  But this cow was pretty close to us, and he kept looking at us, so I MOOed at him several times, and apparently I speak cow, because he backed up and went to stand inside of the gated area with the other cows.  I made a cow move!  Diane and I both got a kick out of that, plus it was a good distraction on this long run.

The only other item of note for this run happened right at mile 9.68 - and it didn't happen to just us, but as we discovered afterward, it happened to Julia and Andi, who were running independently of each other, at the exact same spot.  We were running our last jig-jag around a little neighborhood, when we suddenly felt like the gravitational pull was so strong that we couldn't lift our feet high enough to muster a run, so we walked our way out of the neighborhood; it wasn't far, because at mile 9.8 we started running again and finished up our 10 miles.  I guess there was just enough of an elevation change, combined with it being so close to the end of a long, tiring run that we all ran out of energy, but it was interesting that it happened to us all at the same spot.

Afterward, we spent several hours at Blue Baker, where much merriment happened, including this:
I mean, it's just a plastic knife that broke when Diane was trying to slice her apple, but maybe we were punch-drunk from running 10 miles, because it seemed pretty hilarious at the time.
She managed to eat around the knife part...Diane looks pretty good for just having run 10 miles, wouldn't you say?

I'm glad that run is over with - honestly, with our wonky schedule, that may end up being the longest run I do before Houston.  And if that's how it works out, well then, it will be just fine.  I'm obviously not training for a time - unless it's a GOOD TIME.  Then I'm all in!

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To my American readers:  Happy Thanksgiving (tomorrow)!  We'll be starting our day with a Turkey Trot 5K before indulging in a yummy dinner.  Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

19 comments:

  1. Glad you were able to run in cooler weather! 10 miles is long and hard no getting around it. That is funny that you were able to make the cow move by mooing at it. LOL
    Provided my knee feels OK I will be getting my workout in before the dinner tomorrow too!

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    1. Hope you got your workout in, and I also hope you enjoyed your dinner! :)

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  2. Those temps were perfect for your 10 miler! I hope you have similar temps at Houston.

    Who doesn't moo at cows? Isn't that an expectation?

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    1. Glad to hear I have a fellow mooer in blogland! :)

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  3. Isn't it funny how once the temp drops below 50 it can be really difficult to figure out what to wear? Especially if it's windy!

    I bet not drinking enough was what made you feel a bit less energetic - good thing you figured that out for next time! I've been drinking less as it's gotten cooler too, which is bad (I am getting more headaches because of it!).

    LOL about mooing at the cow and him moving!!!

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    1. I had a headache after that run - definitely not enough water. I do so well when it's warm, but it's a real challenge to drink enough once the temps cool down a bit.

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  4. So glad to see you got that weather. Especially for a 10 miler, which somehow is hard enough!

    Your cold fronts are like the rain we need in CT - somehow manages to always go around.

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    1. It's called the Aggie Dome here - we have an invisible dome that stops the rain from coming too often.

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  5. The cows!!! That's definitely not something I ever see on my runs!

    I love the What to Wear tool for in-between weather, which 40 is. It's not really cold (to this lifelong Midwesterner at least), but not really warm either.

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    1. Really, you don't see cows? How funny - we see them all the time. And deer, and sometimes horses, and armadillos...and seriously, you've been here - we're not out in the country!

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  6. Wowza! 10 miles is a LONG distance, no matter how you do it. Sometimes I like to think about distances that are familiar to me--like when I was a kid--Hayward seemed like a LONG distance to me, and it was 10 miles away from where we lived in Fremont. I concur--you are ready for your half marathon!

    Happy happy Thanksgiving. I know you will have a fun time this year!

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    1. Geez, when you think about 10 miles like Hayward to Fremont, it seems DAUNTING. Dang...no wonder we were tired!

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  7. Last year I started to record the temperature in my running journal and then write down what I wrote for my run and how I felt. Now hopefully this year when I do a 45 degree run I'll be able to look back and see if I was too warm or just right wearing a long sleeve shirt AND a jacket!

    I was going to do a Turkey Trot tomorrow but now I think I will just sleep in. Happy Turkey day and have fun at your race!

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    1. That's a great idea to keep track of what you wear - I already keep track of my runs and the temperature, so why not add the clothing details? Thanks!

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  8. I have been trying to live up to 5K / 3 miles. That's still huge to me. But, I seriously want to do a 10k someday and 10 miles is still a dream!
    That apple and knife thing is funny 😂

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    1. You'll get there - it just takes doing it over and over...and suddenly, you're running 10 miles!

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  9. Running and cows, delightful but sometimes mucky! Longtime reader speaking up at last to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving! I live out of the country so I get my pie and other treats vicariously. Thanks for your regular running updates, they help keep me motivated!

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    1. Thanks for leaving a comment, Tamara - I appreciate it! :)

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  10. That was so nice you had better temps on this run. Love the photo of the cows. Maybe after Houston you could do a photo-run for us. Would love to see the area where you are running.

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