LSD, re-defined

Long run today...and literally the longest run of my life (haven't said that in a few months) at 17 miles. It was NOT pretty, but I made it.

Now that I've embraced the whole "walk break" format, I've been reading more of Jeff Galloway's advice on marathon training (he's a big advocate of the walk thing and running only 3x per week for masters' athletes--what's not to love about that, right?). I recently saw a quote from him in Runner's World (or Competitor, or Triathlete, or Active.com, or some damn place as I'm obviously reading too much of this stuff) that said you really can't run the weekly LSD run TOO slow and that it should be as slow as 2 minutes per mile slower than the target marathon pace. Although that seems like it'd be about as slow as walking backwards, it was another person besides the coach advising a slower training pace. So I set off to tone it down and try to keep my pace and HR down to the 135 I was supposed to average. Well, I'll tell you the ending: mission accomplished, but it's probably more because my fast twitch muscles are on strike since last Sunday, I think. Anyway, I left a bottle of Ultra fuel on John & Judy's porch (perfect turnaround point) near MOHAI and drove down to Seward Park. I ran out and back down Lake Wa Blvd and up through the arboretum with a little extra by J&J's house so I'd turn around at mile 9 and have 8 miles back to the car. Route was great...love running the trails in the arboretum.

The first 4-5 miles were nice and relaxed...hip: silent. HR: low. Lake view: nice. Wind: none. This might actually be FUN, no wonder people do this slowly. I actually (kind of) let go of caring about the fact that my avg. mile pace was well below 10 minutes...started thinking about LSD being LLSSSD: Leisurely, long, slow, strong, steady, distance. However, that party did not last. By the end of the second hour, I was continuing to think of all the other things LSD might stand for...I was WISHing I was doing a "Leisurely, Strolling Dog-walk" like some of the happy golden retriever owners by the lake. Yeah, I wish. More like Ludicrous Slogging Deathmarch, which by by mile 13 degenerated into Limping Stride Degeneration and Like (I'm) Scared (of) Dismemberment (OK, the last one is a bit over-dramatic, but on a 3-hour run you think of a lot of meanings for "LSD" and they are excellent blog fodder, no?). The last hour sucked and I was feeling pretty beat up; the usual suspects (left hip, right hamstring) were pissed and vociferous...and they were joined by some new cranky friends (left heel, left shoulder, and 2 almost-blisters seeking a home in my right shoe). I was quite happy to make it back to Seward Park...walked a little and semi-collapsed on the grass and tried to stretch a little, ate a banana, and got my legs in the lake immediately for the pseudo-ice bath.

I did well on fueling during the run with the Ultra shake stuff, but I think I need to step up the hydration a bit...I was pretty thirsty when I got done. The shakes are liquid, but I think the concentration might be a little thick to cover all my energy and hydration needs, especially since it's not very hot here and my next 2 races are basically in the desert. How lucky for me that next Thursday is an 18 mile Long Slog...Damn (see? another LSD) and another opportunity to work on this.

I did well on recovery nutrition and I actually felt really good within a half hour or so. I called the PT, though, and got an appt. for Monday. I've been trying to ignore the left heel thing for a couple of weeks, but it feels plantar fasciaitus-ish and I'm not interested in having another minor injury. I swear I'm not a hypochondriac, but I do worry a bit about 41-year old things breaking down before IMC and I'm doing my best to do preventative maintenance.

Stats:
17 miles
3:01:05 (Avg pace = 10:37)
Avg HR = 133