Nine miles and a salad the size of my face

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July 9, 2011 by Amy B

The alarm went off at 6:00 am this morning.

Why is it that I’m usually excited about long runs the day before but never when I have to wake up at the crack of dawn?

Last week my iPod shuffle took an unfortunate trip in the washing machine, and I’m seriously bent. It’s been a great running buddy, and I prefer it to strapping on my iPhone, even if I do feet that Nike lady telling me how much farther I need to go. (It’s been sitting in rice for a week, so I’m hoping to save it.)

I shuffled around the house, ate a Kashi granola bar, filled up a few fuel belt bottles with water and Gatorade, grabbed a hammer gel and got out the door around 7:00. Even though I knew I didn’t have to go far (as far as long runs go), I was dreading it a little. I didn’t sleep well and haven’t posted the greatest runs this week.

My nine miles looked like this:
1 – 10:33
2 – 10:27
3 – 10:57
4 – 11:48 (WTF)
5 – 8:35 (clearly Nike app is screwy)
6 – 10:26
7 – 10:41
8 – 10:28
9 – 10:36
9.5 – 5:05

Total: 1:39
Avg pace: per Nike, 10:33 (if the distance is 9.44); mapmyrun: 11:04 (if the actual distance is 9 mi)

I don’t know what to think. I definitely do not think I was running an eleven min mile pace, judging from my heart rate. I do think the Nike app is off a bit, which annoys me, because it’s using GPS, right? Shouldn’t it be accurate? It was probably good that the Nike lady was telling me my average pace was 10:30, which is a lot more encouraging than 11:00. So thank you, Nike lady.

Regardless, even at 11:00 min/mi, I’m still in the zone I want to be for the long runs, so I shrugged it off. Instead of getting mad, I jammed a $6 salad container full at the local grocery deli.

Can you believe my big indulgence after a long run is salad? Hey, it’s a pretty good salad bar for a small town. (The photo shows only a third of the container. I’ll finish it off tomorrow.)

One thing I learned (and have suspected) is that I can’t stomach an entire gel in one gulp. I decided to eat mine at 4.5 miles, hoping it would give me some oomph for the last miles. It did, but at the price of a really upset stomach the rest of the day (not that it kept me from eating the salad). I want to get in the habit of doing gels during long runs, but I’m still experimenting with what works best.

Tonight on a rare occasion, we have a babysitter (!) so we’re going out. Originally we we’re supposed to see a friend’s band play, but the gig fell through. Instead we’re meeting a friend who’s in town for a frosty beverage and going to the movies (Larry Crowne). The last flick we saw in theaters? True Grit. Yeah, it’s been awhile.

Next week the mileage ramps up and I will attempt to not only get my cross training in tomorrow, but also not miss a run. Fourteen miles on Saturday. Eek.

P.S. I might try posting more about what I eat on a daily basis, at least on run days. I gave up weight watchers a month ago (to save the money on something I wasn’t really following) and even though I’m trying to use the Calorie Count app on my phone, I need more accountability (even if no one reads this blog!). I know, not really exciting stuff, but sorry. 🙂