This was my first non-race run outdoors this year. The weather reports last week
predicted nice weather for today, so I decided to take advantage of the
holiday to get off the treadmill and onto the road. Unfortunately,
today was gray and drizzly, but not bad enough to keep me indoors. I
looped up through the Avenues, down past Memory Grove, around the state
capitol and down to Beck Street before looping through Rose Park and
returing (mostly) the way I came.
This was the longest I've
ever run in my life, and my legs held up pretty well, although I ran
into trouble in the last mile and a half. It wasn't the fatigue
(although I was tired) as much as it was the strain of running
downhill, which I haven't really done before. Living in the Avenues, I
imagine I'll get used to it, but today it was agony.
I also had
some trouble eating and drinking along the way. Meaning that other than
a handful of Jelly Bellies after one hour and a can of Coke after 90
minutes, I didn't eat or drink anything. In the summer, I can use the
drinking fountains along the route, but for now I'm going to need to
figure out a way to carry my water if I want to finish strong.
All
in all, it was a good run. I'm still new to this, but I seem to be
progressing nicely, and I think my cycling fitness should be mostly
transferable. It had better be, If I'm going to survive my plans for
the next two months . . .
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