What you see above is a graph created from the GPS that I was wearing for a short period of the run. The blue line is my speed and the black line is the elevation change in feet. You'll notice that there are a few spots where the blue line spikes, but for the most part its just sitting on the 10:00 line. Where it spikes is where I stopped to stretch or get something to eat. This is really freaky to me because without even trying I have absolutely dialed in my pace. 10:00 mins/mile is 6 mph and, as you can see, I never came off that pace. Great news.So the day began not so well. I went to bed around 8:30 the night before with an awsome headache, but couldn't really fall asleep until maybe 10:30 or 11. When I finally did get to sleep, I was out cold. Our plan was to roll out at 4:30, so I wanted to be up at three to get some coffee, stretch, and go through all my gear once more. I didn't. Whenever I get into a really deep and sound sleep I've noticed that my dreams will have a soundtrack. The reason that I suddenly jerked awake at 4:17 was because for some reason, in my dream, the Allman Brothers Band had stopped playing and I wanted to hit the replay button.
After we got on the road (we rocked to the Allman Brothers as we left) things ran very smoothly for the rest of the day. Here's how she went:
Poison of Choice:
Pediasure. Wow. We didn't use it at all the first trial, but yesterday I learned how important this sweet sweet elixir is going to be. It's only 250 calories, but when my stomach has put a halt on most solid foods, Pediasure went many an extra mile to boost my energy. This stuff is gold. GOLD.
The Toughest Hour:
Hour four, again, was the big one. We were coming up on the turn around point, mile 25, and my stomach was just refusing to cooperate. I was smart enough to bring along Dr. Pepper this time and after a few pulls from that I began to feel better. The real lesson here is that my stomach is clearly uber sensitive to sweets. I need to limit them from all pre-race meals, which I didn't for this run.
What Worked Great:
Taking more frequent and longer breaks was a great idea. On the first trial I was really worried about time lost in breaks, but this time I tried to ignore it. If I wanted to sit and talk for awhile, I did. I also made it a point to stretch and walk more. In short, I think I've realized that its more important to operate on how I feel rather than saying that at a certain time interval I have to do this and this or else I'm behind. I'll have 24 hours, I need to take it at my own pace.
Now, That's Team Work:
Brian and Dave were solid. We kept a chase car with us this time to work as our mobile base. Typically, the chase car would go ahead a few miles and wait for me and whoever was on the bike. There was really only one incident with this plan where Brian got too far ahead of me when I needed energy. Other than that, I couldn't ask for a better team. I'm a control-freak/worrier at nature. I want to be hands on and know everything that's going on at all times.
Not only can I not physically do that for this, but at a certain point my brain stops functioning except for getting me through the next mile. It is remarkably reassuring to know that these two can and will take care of me and everything on race day.Our next trial is 9 March and I think it's scheduled to be 11-12 hours long. I say "I think" because we're still debating on how far is "far enough" to train before the actual run, but I'll let you know. Today has been OK. I'm obviously very sore, but no real pains anywhere in the body. I never felt my shinsplilnts yesterday and only slightly feel them today. I'm not sure how that happened (I mean, you figure you run 45 miles...your shinsplints are going to hurt), but I'll take it.
Keep an eye out for the Alexandria Town Talk tommorrow. They're suppose to be running our story!
Good running.
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