17 miles

Yesterday was my 17-mile run (in my current marathon training). It was a bit... brutal.

I wore the Brooks Glycerin 19 (size 9), and took 3 GU gels and maybe 3 or 4 bottles of water.

We went to bed at a decent time Friday night, and I only had a couple glasses of wine. Still, our plan to head out by 8am didn't materialize until 8:45-ish. It stormed during the night, and I haven't been sleeping great because I've got a poison ivy rash that's driving me nuts, as well as a nasty blister on the heel of my hand. Even at that time of morning it was really humid and I was dreading the next several hours.

Jane ran the first 7 miles with me (training for her half marathon). That part actually went well and I felt better than usual. Around 6.5 miles we ran into a couple on their bikes we know from my old workplace. They'd just returned from Italy and we wanted to hear about that, plus they didn't yet know I wasn't working at the Y anymore. So it was a bittersweet reunion of sorts. We established that we would go out to eat sometime soon, and we started back on our way. It's hard to begin again after stopping (in so many ways).

It had been fairly cloudy up to this point, and even though I was drenched clear thru with sweat, I was just hoping the sun would not come out. 

Even after Jane turned off, I was still feeling pretty good up to at least mile 11 or so. At some point the sun broke thru though... and that's when it started to get awful. I think I walked 1/10 of a mile at mile 14, and 15 (or somewhere in there). During that time I felt there was no way I would make it to 17.

But... I did it in 3 hours 10 minutes. I haven't even figured my pace yet, but that's actually about what I expected. Maybe even a little faster than intended. So I'll take it. It was not fun though. The last 5 miles were nothing but fairly incoherent. 

Afterward I stretched as best I could, rinsed out my clothes, and soaked in a tub of epsom salts, baking soda, and apple cider vinegar. We layed around during the afternoon and then took a walk and went out Saturday night.

I actually felt okay today. I could go up and down stairs with no problem, and didn't really have any soreness/stiffness. 

Even so, I am not looking forward to the 18 this coming Saturday. Ugh. I think this will be my highest mileage week of the entire 18-week training plan.

While I've had some right heel pain (likely from plantar fasciitus), I don't actually feel too bad at this point in the training. Usually this is when I start to feel like I can't go on. Aside from the mental aspect, it seems I'm not doing too bad.

But the 17-mile run was brutal. There's no getting around that.