Some Days Getting Out There is Enough

Well, after getting 13 hours of sleep I woke up do a light drizzle and cold weather. Called Sarah about meeting up for a run, but the outdoors looked about as appealing to her as it did to me. We decided on a rain check (haha) and I settled back into bed. But of course, I was up, and it really didn't look that bad outside. I thought how cool it would be if I did a nice long run. I haven't done a long road run in quite a long time and it seemed like a good idea. So, I waterproofed the ipod and cell phone (i.e. wrapped them in a plastic bag), put some clif shot blocks and a gel in a clip on side bag thing, got the water and went out with the lofty aim of 18-20.

Anyone else remember that I ran a hard 11.5 Thursday night?

Well, my body sure did. After 6 miles I was tired, I was cold, and I really didn't want to go out for 2 more loops. I convinced myself to start out on another 6, seriously wanted to stop at 7.35, but told myself that I had made a commitment to at least 20 miles on the weekend. That meant I had to get at least 10 in today to make that happen. So, I kept going forward. I stopped to walk a hill just before 8 miles and had 3 blocks, which made me feel a little better (nothing like food when you're feeling down ;) ). Made it to the turn around point, but walked the steep uphill at the end of it.

Walking was nice so I decided to go up behind the stadium but walk the uphill for that. At this point some chafing on my inner thighs started making itself known. I always chafe there when my skin gets wet, and the constant drizzle definitely had that effect. I had brought a small chapstick tube with me, so I smushed that up and rubbed it on the affected parts, which seemed to work. Did that, ran down the other side, and the walked up the steep hill to the track, hoping that it would have the magic that it had last time. Well, I guess because it was slightly exposed on the one side, it felt a lot colder up there and after I got myself up to 11 miles, I was not too happy and feeling chilled.

So, I headed up the firetrail. Up and up and up. The fog was thick meaning I could see little around me or that far ahead of me. I'm sure that trail has some amazing views in clear weather. It was quite steep in parts and I wished that I had my trail shoes for what was sure to be a somewhat slippery trip back down (remember, its still all wet outside!). Finally I made it to the top of the hill and ended up at a spot I had gotten to via the other part of the firetrail before. It was nice to get my bearings and reaffirmed that I had made it pretty high up, as I had been up there before in good weather and been blown away by the view. After I had gone exactly a mile uphill (in 22:xx) I turned around and headed down. A couple parts had a nice singletrack on the side, which seemed a little less steep. I only was really afraid of falling a handful of times and soon it levelled out. Felt like the journey down took a lot less time and soon I was back out onto the berkeley streets. I did see what looked like a fun singletrack cut into the hillside that I want to find sometime when the weather was nicer, but I was really ready to go home.

Luckily at this point, home wasn't too far away. I ran the whole last mile back (at a fast 10:30) and finished up my 14 mile experience in 2:51:xx. For just over a 12 minute mile pace.

All in all, I'm glad I got out there. It wasn't that great of a run, necessarily, but I didn't give up when I wanted to at 7 miles and instead ended up with double that. Also, I really do feel I needed that great run thursday night, even though it meant I had a not so great one today.

(my lovely home on a nice day)

Now I'm going to have a nice hot meal and enjoy being bundled up inside :)