Hello!
I survived my longest marathon training run to date: 2 hours and 50 minutes! Holy cow. The mileage is really getting up there now!
I started my run around 8:30 this morning, so the weather was just starting to warm up. (It was about 34 degrees when I arrived at Southfield.) There was a good amount of black ice and slush, so the first few miles of my run were slow and steady as I dodged the slippery parts of the road.
About an hour into my run, the sun came out, and I finally started to feel better. Usually, the first 2-3 miles of a long run are a little rough for me, but once I’m warmed up, I’m good to go. Today, it took a lot more warming up for me to feel okay, but once I hit that sweet spot, I felt pretty great right up until the end of my run. (It might have had something to do with my fueling today?) I actually felt better after this long run than my 15-miler. That’s a good sign, right?
Anyway, I covered 17.44 miles in 2:50, which included two water stops at my car, a few short walking breaks to switch podcasts on my iPhone (I finally finished Serial – anyone want to talk about it?!) and snap some photos for this blog post.
Side note: I was recently sent some Nuun to sample, so I tried the watermelon flavor this morning and really liked it. Now I know why so many runners love this stuff. It’s delicious, kind of fizzy, and not too sweet. And I think the electrolytes probably helped me through my long run today, especially since I didn’t feel like death at the end, like I did after those 15 miles a couple of weeks ago. (I also ate 3 packets of GU during my run – every 45 minutes.)
At one point during my run, I stopped to climb over a huge snow bank because I *thought* the sidewalks were clear, which, of course, made me insanely happy because, well, Spring(!) and I wouldn’t need to run in the middle of the road anymore.
Unfortunately, my happiness only lasted a couple of minutes because the majority of the sidewalks are still covered in snow. It was just a little section that was clear. Boo.
After my run, I hit up Whole Foods for FOOD, which included sushi and copious amounts of mac & cheese and buffalo chicken from the hot bar.
Speaking of post-run, let’s talk about our recovery routines. I love to hear what other runners do. Here are mine:
- Drive to Whole Foods. Buy delicious food.
- Arrive home. Immediately take off sneakers and sweaty clothes. Put on sweatpants and a hoodie.
- Make a protein shake.
- Get ice packs from fridge.
- Turn on TV.
- Sit on the couch while icing my knees and drinking my protein shake.
- Once I finish my protein shake, I chow down.
- Take a shower and get dressed.
- Continue on with my day, which includes a lot more eating and eventually PJs and compression socks.
Question of the Day
What’s your recovery routine consist of?