It was around 51F and a rainy day in Weston, MA. A week before I couldn’t even run 30″ for my scheduled 2 hr long run – I just went home after an hour I was so beat. I am not sure if it is the mental stress of transitioning out of my job, or the double whammy of hours of yard work plus workouts that broke me! I took it easy last week and did hills and intervals and light yardwork (only 4 hrs day before race!!) to try to recover for this race.
12.8 miles done!
6.8 more miles than I have done in the past year and a half! I would say it was a stretch and I wasn’t quite trained but I did it and was not wrecked at the end. It is true I was tired and didn’t do too much the rest of the day 🙂 Huge mental boost and an accomplishment considering I couldn’t run around my block beginning of March!
Strategy: 5″ run, 5″ walk
Clothes: 51F, rainy. Wore short sleeve XOSKIN + rain jacket. For first loop I had maroon sweatshirt tied around my waist just in case but it was just hot and bulky so I left it at the start after my first loop and was still a little warm after the rain stopped.
Food/water: Standard 200 cal/hour with mix of food (payday, cliff bloc) and tailwind/water. I should have drank a little more water but did drink a solid 3 hours worth.
New lesson learned: First time I ran in glasses and in the rain. Wore my Kilkenny hat and because there was no wind, my glasses stayed dry! No issues even with fogging.
No cramps, feet issues (need to better lube as I thought I felt the start of a hotspot on my right foot).
A success!!!! Although I was tired, my pace was fairly consistent throughout the race with a slowdown at the aid station and in middle. I tried to speed up and also find a new gear as I did at Hamsterwheel with the dying headlight but couldn’t near the end. I did run in!