 |
| Sunrise over the trail just before starting out at 8 am |
David told me he was hoping to do 4 miles today. I told him I was doing 7 using 1 min walk; 3 min run. I reminded him that Perkis meetups were strictly for the purpose of giving folks (especially me) a reason to come out. And that as happy as I was to see him I did not expect him to hang back with me. David began my intervals with me and not too far into it he commented that at this pace and intervals he could probably manage 7. And - spoiler alert - he did. :)
I have to admit to being a little concerned when he said that. As much as I knew I would enjoy spending time on the trail with him, I was concerned that I might unintentionally push my pace. Instead I made a conscious effort to keep to my pace. David, being the Philly Fit alum that he is, understood.
David stuck with me anyway and I am very glad he did. He literally talked me through this run. At one point he asked, if he was talking too much. Absolutely not!!!! If anything I wasn't holding up my end but he understood that too. Paying attention to him and what he had to say really helped the miles fly by. I was paying attention and it was a fun moment when he realized I truly was.
That's not to say the morning was all smooth sailing. For two days I've been debating which way to run on the trail. Starting at the 5.5 marker I could go south to the 2 and back or north to the 9 and back. By last night I had all but talked myself out of going south because in my head that is "downhill" which meant coming "uphill" on the way back. That's so not true but a lot of this running thing is in one's head. So I decided to go north.
Ok great except I forgot where the mile markers are. I had it in my head that the 9 was at the Graterford Trail head across from the Perkiomen Fire Company. But that's the 8 mile marker. Continuing on to the 9 meant going down the hill and around the bend at Graterford Prison and what goes down must come back up again on the return trip. THAT really got into my head at first. But as I said to David at that point, I have to do hills in order to beat the Longport Bridge so here we go. I just wasn't expecting that today. I'm happy to say I powered back up the hill on the return and was left feeling very proud. My memories of that hill are far worse than it actually was.
I was cruising more or less (as much as one can say 'cruising' at my pace) until 5.5 miles into the planned 7 miles. And that's when I hit a wall. It only took a minute or two to understand why my skin felt clammy and my head felt like my brain was bubbling. I don't know if that's how other people feel when they run out of steam but I've come to recognize that feeling when I do. At first I was confused because two weeks ago I finished 7 miles just fine. What was wrong now?
It's not so much what's wrong but what's different. The only change I can think of is that it was 20 degrees warmer at the start than it was 2 weeks ago and got warmer as the run went on. I thought I was drinking enough but apparently I was not. I told David I needed an extra walk break. That and a water seemed to help. I still felt dizzy when the run was over but I did finish. I should probably eat before going out in the warmer weather as well. No harm done. This is what training runs are for.
I enjoyed the company and the scenery of today's run. I would have managed on my own but it was a treat not having to do that. Also going 'north' from Collegeville, the trail meanders more. There are also more noticeable ups and downs but all in all a very pleasant stretch. We saw lots of runners, walker and cyclists today. Some we saw in both directions. It was a great day to be out.
Keep Smiling Keep Moving
-Paula
No comments:
Post a Comment