I haven’t done a long-run posting in a while. With the races I’ve run over the past three months, I didn’t get back on a weekly long-run schedule until after July 4.
July is my 14-mile long run month. My first long run of the month was only 11 miles, and the last two reached the 14-mile distance. Last week, I did my run from Sheehy Toyota onto Lee Drive while my car was in for maintenance.
My July 20 run used my typical 14-mile route on the Belmont Ferry Farm Trail, Falmouth Bridge, and two loops of the Heritage Trail.
With the hotter summer conditions, I was up at 4 am and out the door by 5:30. Sunlight was peeking over the horizon as I entered Pratt Park.
I usually do my long runs on Thursdays. I needed to measure a course at Stafford Airport on Thursday, July 21. So, I got out a day early on a Wednesday. I was lucky. The temperature on Thursday at 6 am was 78 degrees, and 88 by 8 am.
The dew point on both days was 72 degrees. On Wednesday, the temperature was only 72 degrees at 6 am, rising to 77 by my finish time. Seventy-two degrees and a 72-degree dew point equal 100% humidity.
I wore shorts over compression shorts, a singlet, a cap, and my Saucony Triumph 19 shoes. I have Patella Tendonitis in my right knee and wore my PT strap.
I expected to run for 2 1/2 hours. So, I carried two bottles of UCAN in my double bottle belt.
On my first loop of the Canal Path near the Hospital, there was a small copperhead snake on the trail. It looked dead. People ahead of me gave it a wide berth. I was in a different location on my second loop. But still in the same S shape. I didn’t stop to play with it. I assume it had expired.
Around 6:30 am, I went under the Emancipation Highway bridge and heard Tracy’s and Matt’s dog barking. His bark does carry.
My PT issue causes a pain in my right hip and makes my right ankle and Achilles stiff. That stiffness makes running on uneven dirt difficult. The issue makes my stride less springy, requiring more effort to run.
My split times out were 31:29, 9:00, and 36:52, and back were 37:43, 8:30, and 32:52. Though slower on the way back, my times were consistent.
I drank while walking every 16 minutes. Those walking breaks helped my PT pains subside for another 12 to 15 minutes. during the last hour
My final time was 2:36:28 only 5 minutes slower than last summer, a 3% increase. That’s not as bad as my 10% increase at the Fallen Heroes 5 Mile. Is that what their talking about with 10% inflation?
While watching the Tour de France, I stretched, did PT strengthening exercises and applied some ice.
I’ll do another 14-mile run next week and then decide on the August 6 half-marathon or 50 km.