17.61

Holy crap. I ran 17.61 miles. Last week I ran the furthest distance I had ever run and this week I topped it by 3 miles. Wow.

17.61 miles is really really long. Oh my god, I was running for 3 and a half hours straight. I had with me the new "fuel belt" which isn't actually a fuel belt, but the Nathan Speed Belt 4, which has much larger water bottles and overall just feels better designed. My 14.4 mile run I maxed out the water I could carry in my other fuel belt, since the bottles only hold 6 oz each. These bad boys hold 10 oz, so that way I can make sure I don't run out of water on these really long runs. I also tried out the Hammer Nutrition Endurolyte tablets to see if adding some salt and electrolytes helped with the muscle cramping in my calves. I think it helped, but the jury is still somewhat out. I did notice that it made me feel even more thirsty though. I am learning there is a science to fueling that I still need to perfect, but I am hoping I get a little closer each time.

So the course I ran gave me, get this, 10 solid hills. Yep. I have been training across as many hills as I can just to get used to it. Last week I upped my total number of hills from 7 to 8 and this week, with the addition of running up and over the Brooklyn Bridge and into Manhattan and then coming back, I get 2 more hills, given I have to go from sea level to up that high and back down again. So a total of 10 hills now. So far so good.

So today I am feeling pretty good. I was feeling good enough last night to get my groove on a little at a party-- no small feat post 17 miles. Today I am a little muscle tired, for certain, but doing far better than I might have expected. Next week the goal is 20 miles and the weekend after has a 23 mile goal and then that is it, folks. I am now under one month. My training has had so many ups and downs that I am definitely feeling like I am heading into this a little less trained than I would prefer and with a shorter taper (just one week) than I would prefer, but I am just so thrilled to be where I am right now given I thought my running days may have come to a close with that injury.

It's funny, I was talking with Marisa, and eventually with some of the people at the party, about something I discovered on the run yesterday. It really isn't until something like miles 5-6 that I really start to feel like I am working. All these miles all the time makes the first handful of miles feel like background. It really was such a strange little epiphany to have. I had already made my way down through a few neighborhoods in Brooklyn, up the steep hill to the top of Ft. Greene Park, down to the Brooklyn Bridge, up and over it and into Manhattan around City Hall Park before I started to really feel the run settle in and make itself felt. It kind of caught me off guard how routine some 5-6 miles is that I don't really sweat it much anymore. Never thought I would be back at that point, if I ever was at all.

Anyway, I am off once again to Hartford, so its back to the Internet dead zone. But more training this week, rest assured. And with any luck I will continue staving off the tiniest bit of cold I seem to be keeping at bay. So more next week.