Yesterday was a lovely off day, and although I ate too much I felt very rested, albeit unmotivated, today. I finally dragged myself out of the house, thinking I'd just get in a couple of miles of running and call it a victory, but in the back of my mind I was hoping I'd feel so good I'd keep going.
Indeed, not only did I feel great and keep going, I even felt strong at the end of my run! My pace is still abysmally slow, but at least I am feeling a tad bit better while running so slowly. I broke the 12-minute-mile pace today, running 5.77 miles in 1:08.40, for a pace of about 11:50-something. The run was fantastic - about 50 degrees and cloudy, which I think is perfect since I overheat so easily (why, then, am I doing another tri in Hawaii of all places? Not sure on that one...), but I actually overestimated how cold it would be and ended up with too many layers on. I wore my fancy-schmancy winter run pants that are super thick (and, I think, more flattering as they hold everything in and prevent jiggling - let's call them my Spanx running pants), a long-sleeve tech top with neck-zip, and a hot pink windbreaker over that. I forgot my HeadSweats visor, which was unfortunate (partially because I sweat a lot and it keeps the sweat from running into my eyes and partially because it says "Lavaman 2010" on it and I like to show off while running slowly - maybe I should wear it backwards so people can see it as they are passing me), but about 15 minutes into the run I was overheating. I decided to call it "faux hot weather training" and left all the layers on and mostly zipped to get the feel for running while a tad overheated. Last year that was the hardest part - running in the heat and humidity - and it makes a huge difference in performance I think. If I can get some practice in heated conditions I think I might be better off this year..
Anyway, I think it's fun to have a familiar route, especially through neighborhoods. Maybe I'm nosy, but I like to see what people are doing to their front yards and which houses are being renovated and who's out walking their dog and whether the vultures are hanging out near San Tomas Aquino Creek again waiting for me to keel over. Not today, vultures! Today I found a black squirrel on one of the streets in our neighborhood, which is something fun to keep my eye out for the next time I run that route.
I finished my run strong - actually consciously picking up my pace as I got closer to home, feeling strong. Well, feeling strong until I stopped running - once I opened the garage door and came inside I just about fell over. I spent a good amount of time stretching and using the foam roller to get some tight spots in my legs, and now I can just feel my hamstrings tighten up as I sit here...
Also, there's something about the right side of my body that makes it more injury-prone. My right hamstring is the one that was bothering me last year, and I've been extremely careful to treat it gently this year but I can still feel it twinge and pull and tighten up. My right hand and wrist is bruised from whacking the lane line while swimming (clearly I need more practice swimming in a straight line), and today the bottom of my right foot felt like it was pulling while I was running. The pain went away but I think I need to stretch out the bottoms of my feet with tennis balls. I wonder if we have any? Add it to the list of crap triatheletes need. Sometimes I think this whole event is one big racket to get us to buy gear...
Now, since dailymile.com tells me I burned about 650 calories, I get to start thinking about my late lunch.
A burrito, perhaps?!
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