Chapter 2 page 116 - HMTU 43

"L" agreed to try the "new" route I mapped out on mapmyrun.com last night. I say "new" because it's the same old route we've used since our 10 mile run, but it has a different start/end point. That makes it "new", right?

Temp: 80 degrees; Humidity:52%; Dew Point: a beautiful 60 degrees (wonderfully NOT muggy); Heat Index: 81 degrees; UV:9 = fantastic running weather!

As you all read in my last post, I was looking forward to this and felt 12 miles was going to be a piece of cake . . . I was sooooooo wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For starters I had walked 1.25 miles very slowly to get to my car so that I could drive to meet "L" so we could start our 12 mile adventure. I didn't think this little extra would matter much . . . indeed, I guess it's pretty important because it took my total mileage for the day up to 13.25 miles (just 4 days ago I went 11 miles).

We started off great. We walked the first 3 miles then we did either 2:2 or 2:4 for 8 miles and then we walked the last mile (or gimped along might be a more accurate way to describe it). For the first 7 miles it was pretty much cake. I was feeling good - nothing hurt - not shins, not knee, not who-ha, not feet, nothing - it was awesome. I wasn't even hating it,then my knee started to get a twinge. Then it began hurting a little more. Then I noticed a small part of my foot felt as if a blister was forming, then another, then another and with 3 miles left, I thought my feet were going to be two HUGE blisters. Each step was a HUGE effort. About this same time,"L's" hip started to bother her and she too was developing blisters. It was pretty depressing since just 4 days ago everything had clicked on all cylinders. Perhaps this long run was too close to last week's long run . . . a mere 4 days earlier.

I think my feet are going to keep me out of commission for a few days or even a week. My knee feels a lot like patellar tendinitis (had that once when I was in the army) so I've iced it and taken Aleve . . . we'll see how it feels in the morning.

What went well tonight?
1. We crushed our previous 10 mile time.
2. We did the first 11 miles faster than we did them last Friday.
3. We practically crawled the last mile and still finished in 3 hours 7 minutes.
4. Because I was totally gimpy when I got home, my husband practically waited on me hand and foot. Thanks, babe!
5. My shins do not hurt even a little bit (hooray)!