Another rescheduling of my supposed-to-be-Sunday long run, and last week's planned mileage is complete--sort of. Not a good week to be behind on my running with the Buckeye Half Marathon this weekend, which already will be tough with my bachelor party the night before.
The Enthusiast dropped me off at work yesterday morning with nothing but my running gear to get me home. I mapped a run from work, down the Towpath to Merriman Valley, and then up the hill to Highland Square and home.
In retrospect, it was a brutal route. Flat for the first 10 miles or so, and then straight up hill for the rest.
Wearing my Invisible Shoes for the Towpath portion of the run, I was logging easy 10-minute miles with 30-second walk and water breaks every 10 minutes. Once I got to the smooth sidewalks of the Valley, I ditched the huaraches and stowed them in my CamelBak, which I chose over my handheld because of the storage space for my wallet, keys and phone, which I didn't want to leave at work.
I got a couple snickers from two guys who passed me near Sand Run. "Need a shoe?" No, I do not. "I don't know how you do it." I followed them into Sand Run to refill my water. They asked how long I'd been running barefoot. As I left, I heard them say to a third guy, "Nothing like a new pair of shoes, huh?" Yuck yuck yuck.
My laughing days were over, as I headed toward the steep hill up from the Valley. I made it up the steepest part, but my Achilles started to hurt, which forced me to walk much more. I had planned a little loop around the neighborhood to get me the final mileage, but I was done by the time I got there. Instead I just went home.
So my 14-miler wasn't exactly 14 miles, but my running time was certainly long enough to match the effort, especially with that tough climb at the end. Will that bite me in the ass later? Stay tuned.
That said, last week's completed miles and paces resulted in a Parrott Prediction of 4:43:56, which McMillan says would give me a 2:14:38 half marathon. With no improvement from my previous week's predictions, my plan to stay back with the 2:15 pacer group for the Buckeye Half still sounds like a smart idea.
4 comments:
I think people make jokes because they know they're not tough enough. (Or they're too narrow-minded to even try to understand.)
Your experience with the hecklers reminded me of a similar post over at Silly Girl Running: http://sillygirlrunning.blogspot.com/2011/08/stick-it-to-em.html
Called it tapering and be content.
And I don't run barefoot, but I do wear split-sided shorts. I love a good heckle.
I only heckle you on the interweb. I wouldn't do it person. That's just rude...
"The Enthusiast dropped me off at work yesterday morning with nothing but my running gear to get me home." - Was this on purpose? Or were you being punished? haha
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