Sweet 16

Saturday was my day to run the weekly long run (16 miles this week). I had planned to get an early start on Saturday morning, but I woke up to a hard steady rain. I waited until the afternoon before I realized it was not letting up. Since I was not interested in running the the pouring rain for 3 hours, I decided to go the the health club and run on the treadmill. I've run a lot of miles on the treadmill this past winter, but I stopped after reading that it was not as good as running road miles.

I got to the health club about 2:00. I set the treadmill to at 10 minute miles and started out. I also set the incline at 1 percent (I had never done that before) to make it more like 'real' running.

The are several things I decided I really like about treadmill running.

1. Hydration - Whenever you're thirsty you can grab your beverage.
2. Pace - You can set the speed you want to run and not have to think about if you're running too fast or too slow.
3. Surface - The treadmill is padded, so it's easier on the knees and joints.

I felt like the incline was working my calves more than normal. I decided there was no way in heck I was going to make it 16 miles straight through, so I decided to take walk breaks (the Jeff Galloway method). I would run 1 mile, then stop and stretch out for 30-40 seconds. At the hour breaks I took bathroom breaks. I'm not sure if it's cheating to take breaks, but it was the only way I was going to finish.

It felt good to finish. I felt a whole lot better than last weeks 14.5 mile run. And I finished the 16 miles in less time than the 14.5 mile run...even with the walk breaks. I decided I was dehydrated last week. I lost 4 pounds on the long run and that's not right. So this week I ate more before my run and drank Gatorade Rain during the run (my new favorite).

I was planning on doing some lite elliptical today, but laziness won out. I'm considering a 2-3 mile run yet tonight. I'm sore from yesterday, but I want to get in good training before next week.

This morning something tragic happened in church. I may never forget it as long as I live. I'll write about it next time.