Thank goodness for runs like this. It makes up for last week. Barry asked at the end of the week if we could run on Sunday instead of Saturday. Turns out he IS mortal, and the miles he has been accumulating left him more sore than usual. We also discussed cutting back the length of the run to 10 miles or so.
 Slight digression: We went to the Diamondbacks game last night. During the 8th inning, they showed women's beach volleyball gold medalist Misty May-Treanor on the jumbotron. She hammed it up, smiling and waving and throwing some hang ten gestures. She even pulled her gold medal out of her purse. I realized that she was sitting in our section, about 20 rows in front of us. After the game, she hung around the concourse signing autographs. She had her gold medal around her neck the whole time. We saw her at the men's beach volleyball finals on Thursday night, so she must have flown directly from Beijing to Phoenix on Friday. I wonder if she lives in the area. By the way, renew those Diamondbacks season tickets for 2009. Anyway....
The alarm went off at 4AM, and I got dressed and ready to go. I filled my fuel belt up with a 50:50 mix of Gatorade instead of just water. A big reason I tanked so bad last week is that I wasn't properly hydrated. I drove to where the canal crosses 12th St. and left some Gatorade and water for us, and then drove to Barry's house.
I queued up the latest Podrunner mix, called Waiting for the Sun. It's 167 BPM, which is a faster tempo than I prefer. But I decided to give it a shot. It was a good one. I listened to the Dark Designs mix again on the return leg. That remains one of my favorite Podrunner mixes.
As we set out, I could tell right away that I felt better than I had the previous week. I felt no nagging aches and pains, and we settled into a good pace right away. As the nights get longer, the first part of these runs are darker and darker. As with the previous few weeks, I had to watch the unlit trail along the Bridle Path to make sure I didn't slip and fall.
When we turned onto the canal, I was still feeling really good. The sun wasn't quite over the horizon yet, so we had some relief there. And, just as we approached 7th St., a heavenly breeze kicked up out of nowhere. It gently blew in our face, and it was an awesome and unexpected treat.
When we reached 12th St., I looked over to Barry and gestured to see if he wanted to keep going. Without hesitating, he pointed ahead. So on we went.
We reached 16th St. and turned right around. Just as we did, the breeze died. The sun was just about up at that point, so it felt like the temperature had suddenly increased 20 degrees. Bummer! But we got back to our water at 12th St. and I still felt good and strong.
After filling up and... uh... emptying out, we set out for the return leg. I still felt good, and we managed to keep our pace at around a 9:15 mile. We got back to the Bridle Path and headed south. The trees offered a little relief from the sun. Our pace remained pretty consistent. Unlike last week, where I was dreading each coming step and couldn't wait for the run to be over, I settled into a pain-free zone, just listening to the music and watching the scenery.
As we crossed Bethany Home, Barry picked up the pace a little. I thought for a second about keeping up with him, but I resisted the urge, intent on maintaining the 9:15 pace. As I turned onto Barry's street, I kicked it up a little, and finished feeling strong and happy. That was a stark contrast to how beat up and spent I felt last week.
We went to Vicki's pool for a swim (aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh), and then I headed home. I get to run in Washington, DC this week and then Barry and I will attempt a 13-miler next weekend. Big fun! Activity | Route: | -- | Elev. Avg: | 0 ft | | Location: | Phoenix, AZ | Elev. Gain: | +0 ft | | Date: | 08/24/08 | Up/Downhill: | [+0/-0] | | Time: | 06:10 AM | Difficulty: | 0 / 5.0 | | | Weather: | A Few Clouds | | 90 F temp; 35% humidity | | 90 F heat index; winds E 7 |
| Distance: | 11.80 miles | | |
| Time: | 1:51:37 | | Speed: | 6.3 mph | | | | Pace: | 9' 28 /mi | | | | Calories: | 1765 | | |
Elevation (ft)
Pace (min/mile)
Splits | Mile | Pace (min/mile) | Speed (mph) | Elevation
Gain |
|---|
| actual | +/- avg | actual | +/- avg |
|---|
| 1 | 9' 38 | +0' 10 | 6.2 | -0.1 | -- ft | | 2 | 9' 28 | +0' 00 | 6.3 | -0.0 | -- ft | | 3 | 9' 19 | -0' 09 | 6.4 | +0.1 | -- ft | | 4 | 9' 16 | -0' 12 | 6.5 | +0.1 | -- ft | | 5 | 9' 14 | -0' 14 | 6.5 | +0.2 | -- ft | | 6 | 9' 18 | -0' 10 | 6.5 | +0.1 | -- ft | | 7 | 14' 35 | +5' 07 | 4.1 | -2.2 | -- ft | | 8 | 9' 22 | -0' 06 | 6.4 | +0.1 | -- ft | | 9 | 9' 30 | +0' 02 | 6.3 | -0.0 | -- ft | | 10 | 9' 59 | +0' 31 | 6.0 | -0.3 | -- ft | | 11 | 9' 23 | -0' 05 | 6.4 | +0.1 | -- ft | | end | 9' 28 | +0' 00 | 6.3 | -0.0 | -- ft | | Versus average of 9' 28 min/mile |
|
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