urban run

Holy shit! I took losing sleep to the extreme last night. I woke up at midnight and that was all she wrote. Damn.

On the up side, the weather was fantastic and I had great company but my run was a massive spiral of death as I gradually faded all the way to the end where I ended up having to walk four times. :( I didn't bonk, I think it was lack of sleep and me being tired from the last few days.

It's my experience that if you log a hard run it stays with you longer than a hard ride AND you can't fake it on subsequent runs like you can on a bike where you are able to draft and coast. And you can take that to the bank. :)

Today I hooked with Frank H and Justin A for an early lunch run. Turns out Frank likes to clock out every Thursday around this time, go for a run, run home and then finish his work day there. Nice. I have been able to join these guys twice and it's been great company both times.

We take off and after a mile or so Justin kinda turns his head around and says to me, "So Martin, what's our pace on your GPS thingy…?" I glance down and see that we're doing 7:05-7:10 and in retrospect I bet Justin knew this and just wanted to hip me to the fact so I wouldn't toast myself. We slowed down a little but today it was not enough for me and I paid the price later on.

As we climbed up toward Discovery Park so we could cross the wood bridge over the train tracks and then cross the locks my legs were HEAVY. On the flats I was right on their heels but on this very gentle climb suddenly I was 20' off the back. Shit. Lucky for me I had to take a leak at the locks so I got a tiny breather.

Cruising into Golden Gardens you can see that our pace picked up again. At the time this felt okay and I was determined to run the climb up from the beach but about two thirds of the way up - pretty much right where it gets steep - I folded and had to walk. I walked the last bit of dirt trail and the stairs (two at a time at least) and then once I got to the top I had to walk half a block just to catch my breath. Ouch.

From here on in it was not so much fun. :( As you head to Green Lake there are about four or five, normally insignificant, one-block rollers and on each one I was hating life. I had to prep myself mentally each time I saw one coming and then dig on the 'climb' just to stay in contact. On one of them I had to walk! And then bust it on the descent to catch up. Yikes… I was fading big time.

We dropped Justin off and for just a bit I felt okay but then I had to ask Frank to hold up so I could walk a few steps again. I just had no focus, my breathing was ragged and my legs were pretty un-special. I had to walk a few steps again just climbing up to 15th Ave NE for crying out loud.

At least I held it together running back into campus on Ravenna Blvd, thank god for that.

I can't help feeling like super dork running through campus in my shorts, SmartWool top and handheld bottle… I might as well be carrying a sign that says, "Look at me, I'm different!" Funny how out on the streets or trails I don't give a damn but on campus with all the 20-somethings I get super self-conscious.

Around mile 10 I had been extoling the virtues of my Hoka Combo XT shoes and so it was supreme irony that my right hip started to really hurt the last two miles of this run. After my shower (which was heaven by the way) and my walk back to the office it felt a little better but what the hell? These shoes have been super so far and I do NOT need any issues right now.

Sleep	3, maybe…
Waking HR
Body Weight
Body Fat
Breakfast	6:30 AM - 2 bananas, applesauce, protein powder, walnuts, avocado
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food	bottle w/1 tablet Nuun and 1 scoop HEED, gel
Injuries	Right hip started to ache with about 2-3 miles to go.
Therapy	5:30 AM - 30 minutes of stretching
Time of Day	10:30 AM
Workout Type
Weather	mid to upper 40s, mostly sunny, light breeze, dry
Course
Results
Time
Distance
Pace
Equipment	Hoka Combo XT, handheld bottle
Clothing	shorts, Craft short sleeve undershirt, SmartWool long sleeve shirt