Back on the trails

7/24/08
Thursday

Boy did it pour today.....probably the most rain I have seen come down all at once. They report was of thunder and lightning ...I hoped not as I planned a X-C run after work. I wanted to work on hills and cardio ...no better place than Pineland.

When I arrived at Pineland the rain was not severe, just a steady rain but no too heavy. I knew it would be much less in the woods. I really don't mind running in the rain. My body temp is much cooler and there are no bugs.

I wore my gortex trail runners and felt confident they would guard against wetness and slippery trails quite well. I was a little worried that my right Archilles might act up as these shoes were quite a bit stiffer than my trainers.

The trails were wet but not slimy and I was careful to place my feet in the best spots to guard against slipping or twisting and ankle. There was no-one else on the trail and I enjoyed the music of my Nike.

My plan was to run fairly fast and work hard on the hills....It did not take long for me to reach the end of my breath and also my energy. The legs felt quite heavy and my glasses were steaming up making it difficult to see the trail.

As time went by and the worst of the hills showed up I began to wear down some...I felt like stopping and walking but would not allow myself until I reached at least 3 miles....Funny, 3 miles seems so short when compared to running the 25K trail race but tonite my body felt 3 was plenty long.

I stopped at 3.5 caught my breath for a few seconds then ran anouther half mile at a slightly slower pace. Even though I called it a cooldown, my heart rate stayed right up in the 150-160 range....so not really a cooldown.

I was glad to climb in the truck wipe off the rain and sit down. I felt pretty satisfied with the workout tonite.....I think the cardio got a pretty good kick.

I celibrated by taking a hot shower and going out for a sandwitch and beer....
I don't feel ready for a pr at the B to B but would like to beat last years discouraging time of 50 minutes and get into my average range for the last 3 years of about 47-48 minutes. 46 would be fantastic but I don't expect that kind of speed.

Compared to L L Bean's 10k, I suppose I should be able to pull off a 48 for this one. I am going to run the Beach course with my daughter on Sunday as she has never run the course....I am thinking about running it twice to give me one last long run before the race. We will see how the day goes.