Road Running long 2:13:34 [4] 15.7 mi (8:30 / mi)
shoes: Mizuno Wave Rider 11
Odell Rd Loop (9.5mi) + 5 km each direction from/to my house. Long run in prep for MCM (still nervous about how that's going to go.) Angelica is probably going to kill me if she if she finds out that I ran almost 16 mi today since she was pretty persistant last weekend in trying to get me to run a half-marathon with her. Sorry, Angelica, if you (or Wyatt) happen to read this...I wasn't till the middle of the week that I decided to do this run.
So the run went pretty well. I had my ups and downs in energy throughout the run, but nothing really drastic. Felt pretty good on the hills too. The one odd thing that I have noticed for all of my runs, which became really apparent today is that it is taking me a reallllllly long (today it took nearly 45 min) time to feel warmed-up and relax into my usual stride. What is even more odd is that in my pre warmed-up state my legs feel like total crap and I can have so pretty sharp pains, esp in my shins and lower calves just above my achilles. After I'm warm I generally feel great though and don't have any pain until general leg fatigue sets in (which only happens on longer runs like today.) I've tried the usual remedies, extra stretching, icing (haven't tried heat yet though), massage, etc, but nothing seems to help. At first I thought it meant my shoes were shot already, which would be premature, but it happens, however it strikes me as odd that the pain doesn't persist. If any one reads this post and has any input I welcome it because it is really annoying me at this point and slowing me down.
Besides the leg pains at the start the run went pretty well. I really enjoyed the sections of the Odell Rd. loop that run along some pretty quite country roads. It felt just like I was running in my hometown which was a nice change from the usual busy roads around CP. I decided to do some new product testing on today's run as well and tried out a pack of Cliff ShotBlocs instead the usual GU. I was pretty satisfied with them - they reminded me of eating a fruit snack which was fun and the black cherry flavor is actually pretty good. They did seem to deliver a more subtle boost in enerygy than a GU shot, but since the directions indicated to take 3-6 per hour (I took one every 20-30min), they deliver smaller doses at more frequent intervals. I probably wouldn't use them for anything shorter than today's run, but they might come in handy for longer o-races, especially when you get to the point where a consistent stream of energy could really help with concentration (and where something solid in your stomach might be appreciated.)