8 mile run

Saturday, I ran 8 miles on the York County Rail Trail. It was a rough start. I woke up later than I anticipated and normally that would mean I would put it off. But, I decided to go out anyway. 8 miles needed to be run and it needed to be done on schedule. Why, I don't know and I'll come back to this later.

So, I got myself up and got out of the house. I decided to try my Cytomax Cool Citrus I received in my Zooma training package.

I only had one in my package

I knew it was going to be a hot run (compared to last month's), so I had to have my water with me and since I had samples of items from Zooma and Stride Box, why not try them out? 

I arrived at the Rail Trail in York about 11:00 a.m. This is way later than I wanted to start out, but darn it! I wanted to get my run in! I helped someone whose first time at the trail wasn't sure of the path, then headed out. I have to say, the sections of the trail in York itself are really pretty.

I am not always a fan of the out and back. I like winding routes because it tricks me into thinking I've gone further than I have. LOL! But, the Rail Trail is out and back, so the goal was 4 down, 4 back. I got through the city and finally started hitting the part of the trail that's a bit more in the country...you could say...

That is a rooster and chickens on the rail road tracks. Seriously. The rooster kept crowing as I ran past. And they had no fear of people! I passed within a foot or two of them and they didn't even blink!

There were lots of people on the trail yesterday, but not so many that I felt crowded. That was nice. This may sound silly, but I worry about being along on the trail since it's surrounded by trees. But, yesterday was the perfect mix of people without being too crowded.

I hit the turnaround point at 52:09. A little slower than I would have liked, but I felt good. But, the return trip wasn't as strong. My quads were hurting the whole time. I honestly wanted to stop. I had no desire to keep going. I wanted to get to my car at mile 6 and just stop. Of course, with an out and back, you can't do that. So, I knew I had to keep going. Sadly, I slowed down. 

My Garmin had goal times for 8 miles that would give me a PR at Zooma. I kept looking at it, hoping to be within the range. I have two goals, a sub-2:50:00 and one that just squeaks me by at 2:51:14. Sadly, I missed both of those by about 4 minutes. I could say that I had to stop several times on the run for traffic and that if I hadn't I would have made it, but eh. I have no idea how long I stopped at each street so I can't honestly justify that. Sure, I know I lost some time, but I'm not going to say it all got eaten up by traffic. 

I got back to my car and hubby and I met at our normal post-run spot, Dunkin Donuts. I had a yummy blueberry iced coffee and 

I made a resolution at the beginning of the year that I can only have apple fritters on runs longer than 6 miles. LOL! The other donut is a toasted coconut, which my DD rarely has. Yum!

I mentioned earlier that I would come back to that Saturday run thing. I realized something on my run yesterday that if I want to succeed in a PR on June 1 I need to do. I have to adjust my running schedule. We are entering the busy season at work now and with that means I am on my feet all day. Friday, I was exhausted when I came home. My legs were pained and I could barely walk back to my car (I park half a mile away from my office every day). The last couple of weeks have been like this. Last Saturday during my 5 mile run my legs were tired the whole run and my time was awful. I was surprised yesterday at how well then held up the first half of my run. Then on the second half, my quads hurt the entire way. Hence why I wanted to quit. 

So, this means my long runs need to change. I have to move them to Sunday, which I do not want to do. I like running my long runs on Saturday morning. I like in a sense getting them over with for the weekend and knowing I can enjoy my Saturday and Sunday without worrying about feeling well for my run. But, my legs are too tired on Saturday after working three days on my feet. I think they need to rest for a day, even if I go to the gym and use the bike or something. I only have three more weekend runs before Zooma, it won't be too bad. Really. It won't be. 

The other thing about the run is I used Ctyomax for the first time. The Zooma course has 9 water stations in 13.1 miles (which is awesome!), so I decided to take water on my run every two miles. I have to say, I was impressed with the Cytomax. It had a nice taste - not too sweet, not syrupy, no aftertaste. The Cool Citrus flavor was refreshing, especially at the two mile mark when I still had ice in my water bottle. I think that would be the only thing I would say about it is that it tastes best when cold. But, that's not anything more than many a drink. I know I will be taking some of the Cytomax during the course to help. It's the first sports drink I've had on a run that I've liked. Hopefully it will be cold on the course!

Do you do your long runs on Saturday or Sunday? Have you tried Cytomax?

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11 Miles

Today was a scheduled 11 mile training run.  It would be my 4th longest run ever.  When I was scheduled to run 10 two weeks ago, I was all nervous before hand.  Today?  Not nervous at all.  Strange.

Though, I wasn't feeling very good.  My stomach wasn't happy with me (note to self: last night's dinner not good pre-run meal) and I wasn't sure I should even attempt leaving the house.  Also, I've been coughing.  Which means, I'm getting sick.  Everyone has that first symptom; mine is coughing.  I think I must have coughed overnight because when I woke up, I just wasn't feeling all that refreshed.  But, I decided to head down to the Rail Trail anyway.  I know 11 miles was on the schedule, but I figured I could always stop if I wasn't feeling well.

This was the trail in front of me today.  It was really pretty with the leaves changing colors.  The temperature was gorgeous.  There weren't too many people out on the trail, though at times being the only runner thing made me think of crazed psychopath killers lurking in the trees (I'm happy to report, there weren't any...as far as I could tell).  My plan was to run 2.75 miles north of Brillhart Station, then back for 5.50 miles, which is exactly half the distance of today's run.  It went fine.  I wasn't feeling great, but eh.  I have felt worse in my life.  On my way out, I saw hubby as he was running his training route.  He had 19 today (and did them all!).  It was nice to see someone I knew as I ran.  I was thinking it would be fun to have someone to run with occasionally.  Sad thing, I run too slow for people.  I would really have to pick it up or someone would have to really slow down for me.

When I got to the half way point, I stopped at the port-a-potties.  There's one at Brillhart Station and while I HATE port-a-potties, this one was nicer than I anticipated.  Much larger than your average one, maybe it was handicap accessible?  But it was nice.  It could have used hand soap, but overall, not a bad port-a-potty.

At this point, I had the option of stopping or heading south on the trail to do the other half of my run.  I decided what the heck? and kept going.  Which I think was my fatal flaw.  My time got slower and slower, to the point that I think I could walk faster than I was "running."  I stopped a couple times to cough.  I talked myself into the 2.75 miles on the way out, then realized I would need to do 2.75 miles back.  As people passed me on their bikes, I wondered if they'd be willing to let me borrow their bike to get back to my car.  My internal decision was they probably wouldn't.  :-(

On my way back, I came to the tunnel.  The tunnel is one of my favorite parts of the trail actually.  I think it's pretty neat.  And it's usually cooler here than anywhere else on the trail.  Not that it mattered today per se, but in the summer it sure does!  But, as I approached the tunnel, all I could think of was come towards the light. And I did.  And nothing happened.  I just ended up on the other end of the tunnel.  Stupid tunnel...

At about 10 miles I was done.  I walked for about .3 miles, ran .2 miles, then gave up.  It was not to be.  My stomach hurt, my back hurt, my chest/throat hurt (from coughing), my legs hurt, my hips hurt.  It was just painful.  So, I shut Garmin off at 10.5 miles and walked the last .5 miles back to my car.  It was a bit humbling considering I came into this thinking I was all over this run.  I wasn't nervous.  I had this.  And then, hubris set in.  Why, oh why, do I let myself think I'm better than I am?

Next week is 4 miles. Then on the 22nd, I'm up to 12.  I'm back in fear of it.  Very, very fearful...