Sunday, June 3, 2007

Unintentional mileage and a great Sunday!

My 3' tall, 32lb alarm clock woke me up this morning. It was raining outside and I wanted to roll over and sleep more, but it wasn't to be. It was for the best, since Mendy was helping out at church for the first service and I could join her, instead of both of us sitting through separate services. Delicious coffee drink (24oz coffee w/ 4 shots of espresso) and my trusty Nalgene bottle full of water, and we are off. Light rain was making exercise look like a personal challenge instead of any kind of "fun". By the end of church, though, it was clearing up and looking nice.


We ate at P.F. Changs for lunch. Hmmm, what to have...what to have... Oooh, spicy chicken! (voice in back of head: uh, aren't you planning on running? Bad move, David). I wonder how spicy it is? Eh, I'll try it anyway. (voice in back of head: uh oh...) Mendy and I shared a chicken lettuce wrap that Robin recommended when we ate there with them a few months back. Then the spicy chicken came, with roasted hot peppers mixed in (little voice: Dude, do NOT eat those!) Ah, just a few can't hurt. Whew, this is spicy! (little voice: I'm telling you...) Um, wow, those peppers are hot even if very tasty. Maybe they won't affect my run, though. (little voice: jackass)

Grace fell asleep on the way home and continued her nap for a couple of hours. I suited up in my running duds and tried to flush some of the peppers through, get some last minute hydration, and a gel for fuel. Oh, quick thought: a piece of gum to chew to avoid cotton mouth. This wound up being pretty key. I run by feel, mostly: I generally don't rigidly plan a route or distance, just see where the road, how I feel, and my pace take me. I set out thinking about 6-8 miles, and had some idea where I wanted to go. The peppers kicked in almost immediately, and my pace was limited to about 8-ish/mile. I decided to shoot for the upper range of my "plan" and set my focus. Wound up going a bit far, though:

12 miles in 1:37:52 @ 8:10/mile



Would have liked a better pace, and probably could have pushed it to near 7:30 if I had some hydration, a gel, and no hot peppers with me. It's the longest I've ever ran at one time, but my base of endurance is high from the cycling and swimming I've been doing. I did ice my shins and knees when I returned, though. I also drank a liter of Gatorade like a freshman at a kegger.
I estimate roughly 8lbs lost in fluid weight, which still concerns me. Hmmm... At least Garmin reports over 1700 calories burned!


Other than that, we washed the car, ate a huge salad (I wanted pizza), and hung out. I'm pretty beat right now, honestly. Swim tomorrow, fast bike ride Tuesday, and a run on Wed, then I'm gonna taper for the Oly tri next Sunday. Work tomorrow! Yay!

bleh

8 comments:

Gotta Run..... said...

You just had to do the peppers didn't you??? I would die for the lettuce wraps right about now. YUM!!

Strong 12 miles and at a great pace. You should be happy with that one.

Another weekend Tri.... don't you just love it?!! Already looking forward to the race report.

J~Mom said...

Your run looks awesome! It's just crazy how many cals you burn when your runs get past an hour. I sure miss that. ;>) Great job and it sounds like another nice family day. I am thinking about that coffee drink....

Wes said...

Oh, word. Definitely stay away from the peppers before you run. I can also recommend staying away from Jambalaya, Red Beans and Rice, and chips and salsa. Why is it all the good stuff? Oh why, God? LOL. But that's still a killer run and awesome pace.

Marcy said...

Will you run my HM at that pace for me? I'll run the last mile LOL

I don't even want to know how it feels to run after downing some peppers LOL. Great job with that workout!!

Dang, I can't believe you already have another event coming up! Sweet!

Unknown said...

I love P.F. Chang's, but if I ate that before a workout, much less a long run, I'm pretty sure you would find me quivering on the side of the road.

Just the same, good job with the run. Sounds like you are all set for you first Olympic distance race.

Mendy said...

You're doing so well, David. When you took off yesterday, I thought about looking over at your lunchplate at PF Changs, and wondering "..and he's going running in a little while". Too bad, it lingered for you, and I'm sure your pace would have been faster if you had PLANNED a route, mileage or so, and had water with you. When you get in that high of mileage, liquids are something you've got to think of. Oh well, you'll do it next time.

Great run (mileage and pace)!

Jason The Running Man said...

Great run...better you then me...I'm with Chad I know I would have been on the side of the road crying!:)

Tiffany said...

OMG, your family is one of my key sources of entertainment.

First of all, thanks for that.

Second, I have had similiar voices in my head when eating that spicy stuff at P.F. Changs. DO NOT eat the spicy schewan beans before a workout. Repeat. DO NOT eat the spicy schewan beans before a workout. That is today's contribution!