My hair was in place but my workout plan was still hazy. Sometime during the first half mile of my run, I decided I would warm up for about ten minutes or so and then run the rest in zone 2 (not super easy but not hard either). It took my legs a looong time to come around. In fact, they felt heavy and slow up until about the fourth mile, which I think was partly a function of the terrain and the direction of the wind, and partly due to the fact that my legs were just plain old tired. Despite having had a rest day yesterday, I had not done my body any favors by drinking a wee bit too much Friday night or by indulging in too many sweets Saturday. I am sorry to say it didn’t end with the banana cream pie I had at lunch. There were chocolate cake and carrot cake at the party, which I avoided for a couple of hours. But the former was too pretty to pass up (and it did not disappoint), and the latter was my own creation, so I had to make sure the final product was just as tasty as the batter (it was). I don’t know if I am more sensitive than most people, but I definitely feel diet affects my energy level, and not just when it comes to working out, but in terms of my general energy as well. Also, I think it would behoove me to be extra careful around nutrition given the fact that my sleep is less than optimum.
I headed out to a route that is partly paved road and partly trail. Being that it was Sunday morning, I had to be pretty careful of all the mountain bikers out on the trail, the majority of which was single track, but they were all very courteous. Much more courteous in fact, than most road cyclists and commuters I encounter on paved mixed use paths, though that’s a post for another day, or perhaps never, lest my ire finds me throwing my beloved MacBook against the wall before I hit “Publish,” or more importantly, before I back it up to Time Machine, which I haven’t done in hundreds of days.
By the time I got to the turnaround, I’d finally shaken the fatigue out of my legs. What began as a crappy run evolved into a really good run. When I reached our doorstep 8.5 miles later, I felt I could have easily run another five miles. In fact, I did run another mile or so after I got home but only because I still had to run another ten minutes to get to the 90 minute mark and I had to tell Dan to please lower the oven heat so we wouldn’t burn the challah French toast apple bake he’d put in the oven while I was out.
Between one bathroom stop, a moment to pause after I twisted my ankle on a booby trap pothole, a second to take in the view of the Flatirons on this impossibly beautiful crisp fall morning, and a couple tiny breaks to suck down a Powergel, I was going to be done at least ten minutes later than I’d anticipated, and I didn’t want to ruin the breakfast I was so looking forward to. As it turned out, the problem with the breakfast was not the timing, but rather my skills. I should have added more eggs because it was a bit dry and I should have buttered the pyrex, because the food was sticking to the bottom. I wrongly assumed that sauteing the apples in a generous pat of butter, with sugar and cinnamon would preclude the need for more butter, but I was wrong. In retrospect, I should have followed a recipe. Side note: the eggs were from our backyard chickens and the apples were from a neighborhood tree from which Dan picked many buckets full of yummy apples a few weeks ago. We’re loco for local. Speaking of local food, we are planning to put a hydroponic system in our house so we can grow strawberries all year!!!
I ended my run, having clocked 9.45 miles, according to my trusty Garmin. I ran the first 45 minutes at an average pace of 10:12/mile and the second 45 minutes at an average pace of 9:01/mile. Now I am off to jot down some notes on my training plans for the next couple of weeks so I don’t end up where I was this morning, tying my laces and still not being quite sure of what my run will be.