Sunday, July 5, 2015

Is It Too Late For Fireworks???

The strategic planning for my 18 mile run started days ago. It was the type of planning that had layers, and built-in contingencies. There was a Plan A, B, and C. All of them had several moving parts. None of them were guaranteed...
The trouble with planning for training runs (and why there are "no guarantees") is the unpredictability of extenuating factors. The "out of your control" things... like the weather. Assessments and predictions are made by trained experts but no one really knows what the weather is going to be like days in advance. Sometimes we don't even know what it will be like hours in advance (especially in South Florida)...

But I was pretty certain it was going to rain at some point yesterday (thanks to my weather app) and that there was a teeny tiny possibility it might rain when I was going to start my run (at 2:30 am), or at some point during my run. 
What I did not anticipate was this...
I'm normally ok with running in light to moderate rainfall; but thunder and lightening automatically mean my run will be cancelled. I've only chanced running in thunder and lightening once (months ago) with Mary, and we only did that because we had to get back to our cars. 

Mary was actually going to drive behind/beside me yesterday morning so that I could start and finish my run before sunrise. She is as obsessive diligent about her training as I am (her IG speaks for itself) so she was totally on board with the ungodly early start time. But since I had to cancel due to inclement weather, Mary got to sleep in and I went to the gym.

The gym workout included 5 miles on the Stairmaster (over 200 floors), and 5 miles on the Recumbent bike. Later in the day I did a 10K walk because I missed the start time of a 10 mile run that my friend Debi had told me about. Clearly Saturday was not meant to be a running day right?

But it all worked out in the end because I ran this morning with Dion, a co-worker/fellow runner, and we completed ALL 18 miles!!!!!!!!

If my entire body wasn't in so much pain I would still be jumping up and down right now. This is my longest long run ever and it felt great to complete it!
ACCEPTED :)

I didn't do much in the way of Fireworks celebrations yesterday but I would totally celebrate my 18 miles with Fireworks today!!!

We started the run a little after 3:30 am along the Boardwalk. I tried to maintain a steady consistent pace all throughout but some miles were more of a struggle...
My fastest and slowest miles are highlighted in blue

Dion normally runs at a much faster pace so this was a jogging day for him. In fact there were moments when he was walking beside me while I ran as fast as my body would allow (I'm going to blame that on my short legs and even shorter stride)...

Finishing the 18 miles was a huge confidence booster and an amazing way to end the weekend. Well actually, an "amazing" way to end the weekend would be a really nice dinner so I'm probably going to celebrate my run with great food later ;)

How was your 4th of July? Did you do anything fun?

What race/training run distance did you complete this weekend?

How do you celebrate after you hit a running/training milestone?

4 comments:

  1. Okay, wow, you are amazing!!! And you are so dedicated to try to get out there at that time of night to do your run!!!! Is there any particular reason why you like to have the whole thing out of the way so early? I can't even imagine doing that. And you've got some great people in your life who are willing to be out there with you. :) That's great you were able to get it in anyway despite the storm.

    I've seen that meme about the weather on facebook and it is hilarious! (And so true!)

    When is the marathon you're doing?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jenny! I try and get it out of the way because doing my long runs in the heat and humidity really suck. Plus I have a pretty extensive recovery process (which is also why I started running on Saturdays...that didn't happen this time though).

      I do have really great family and friends that are supportive and encouraging of my running. They are awesome :)

      I'm training for Chicago which is in Oct (my first full :) )

      Delete

Thanks for your comment!