Sunday, April 4, 2010

Gu substitute, Easter version!

Sixteen miles on the schedule for Easter! The plan--run eleven miles to my parents' house then five on the beach. I ended up getting in twelve on the way which meant only four on the beach. I was more than happy to keep the beach portion to four, by the time I got down there.

After our horrible weather all week, I was delighted to see blue skies and sunshine first thing Easter morning. Happy for me as well as everyone else hoping for a nice Easter Sunday!

It was a little blustery but pleasant when I left home late in the morning. I was quickly warm in my light jacket and after about three miles I slipped it off and tied it around my waist. I was wearing my bright orange Lucy top and the jacket was a featherweight Lucy shell, also orange! I wanted to be very bright and visible in traffic. One disadvantage to the tissue thin jacket was that the hood catches the wind and blows around in a rather irritating manner. Before I just took the jacket off, I shoved the hood inside the back to keep it from flopping around.

My least favorite part of running to my parents' house is the 2-3 mile highway between Everett and Marysville. Although the shoulder is really wide and the bridges have pedestrian walkways, I just don't like the cars zooming past me. I think I even ran a little faster than I planned to in order to get past that!

About seven miles along (I was in Marysville by then) I decided to stop at Albertsons before starting the final stretch out to my folks'. I had been thinking of Cadbury creme eggs and determined that one of those would be the ideal treat to help fuel my run. After all, if you can eat candy after (or during) a long run, when can you?

I zipped into the store and the first thing I ran into was a plate of cookie samples. Good thing, because my creme eggs were nowhere to be found. I wasted far too much time looking. Finally I gave up and went on my way. I called my mom to complain, though, and while I was finishing my run she drove into town to another store and got me my egg!

Around nine or ten miles I was starting to feel a little tired. I started counting down to eleven...even if I wasn't quite done by then I knew I would be close.

In fact, I was over 11.5 miles by the time I neared my parents' house. I ran up the road then was going to stop at 11.75. But then I thought, I can make 12! So I went back into the road and did another quarter mile. In retrospect I am so glad I did, as I BARELY survived the four miles left on the beach! I probably averaged about a 9:30 pace over the twelve miles.

My mom got back with the creme eggs just moments after I arrived. Maybe it wasn't super smart to eat one before I finished my run, but I did and it was yummy.

Then it was time to go to the beach. I hadn't run on the beach since, probably, September or maybe October. A long time, anyway.

Beach running is a lot of work and SLOW, even when the sand is smooth (not rocky) and fairly firm. My two miles "out" were a lot harder than my road miles. I think they were about a 10:30 pace. And that was with the wind at my back, even pushing me at times!

I was tired and unenthused enough to turn around promptly at two miles. None of that "running a little further" stuff today.

And a good thing I did, too. Because on the way back I was running right into the wind. And it was no breeze! Every step was a struggle. In a way it was easier on my legs because I was running SO SLOW. But after a while even my legs were tired of it.

To keep myself going I was literally running from log to log, rock to rock. Any landmark that I could pick off! Every half mile I let myself stop for a second before plunging forward again. It was way harder and more awful than the last few miles of a marathon! But I totally got how some people feel when they're having a rough time in a marathon. I have never wanted to stop so much.

Finally, in the last half mile I knew I was going to make it as I staggered through the last few feet. I think I even went a hair more than four miles!

Before climbing the 120 steps to the house, I tried to stretch out my glutes and hamstrings and other achy bits. It could be a painful night. :(

Back at the house I fixed myself PB&J sandwich on wheat bread and took it with me downstairs to shower and dress. Shortly after Rod arrived and we all had a pleasant afternoon and a great dinner (salmon, fingerling potatoes, coleslaw, roasted broccoli, asparagus, and lots of delicious fresh fruit) (and a yummy apple cream pie for dessert).

Now I am at home in bed eating up my leftover running calories with part of a dark chocolate bunny and two mini-Cadbury eggs. Mmmm.

Hope everyone had a lovely Easter!
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

1 comment:

Tina @GottaRunNow said...

Your mom is great for running to the store and finding you that egg!

That sounds like a tough run. It seems like running on the sand would be hard, esp. at the end of a long run.