Laziness and Miracles

Yesterday I learned that if I don't charge up C-3P0 every once in a while, he'll go dead. So last night's run was sans Garmin. I enjoy running by feel, and it was at Riverfront Park where the mileage is marked, so it wasn't a big deal. I knocked out just over 9 miles.

Some friends in our totally awesome running group were doing 10 miles, so they were out there finishing their runs as I finished mine. Even though we didn't run together, just seeing them out there and exchanging smiles gave me boost. Thanks, friends!

My knee/ITB felt great. No pain. But the last couple of miles, some of my muscles started to ache. This never happens to me. I'm not sure if my failure to consume enough calories during the run had anything to do with it, but that's what I'm going to go with. One pack of Gu Chomps (90 calories) and two Endurolytes pills are not enough for 9+ miles. I had other fuel with me, I was just too lazy to eat it. Yeah, that's pretty lazy.

I did bring a recovery drink with me, and I got that in quickly after the run. Then I ate and drank a lot when I got home. I think that was a large part of this morning's miracle: A great trainer ride! My Thursday rides have really sucked the past two weeks, so I'm glad to have broken that cycle. I hope I've cracked the code for good, because I have 18 more post-long-run Thursday rides before IMTX and I don't want them to suck.

Thursday trainer rides are an hour long and contain my only "speedwork" during the base phase. For the past 4 weeks, I have been allowed to do 6 x 30-second spin-ups once a week. Today I got to do 8! Those 30-second segments are just glorious. I really, really miss speedwork. But I will be patient and I will do the work as prescribed and the results will come.