20

The wife and I are home from our trip across Texas. We saw our Kansas State Wildcats play Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl, and flew to El Paso to see my parents and commemorate their 50th anniversary. Ann caught an ear infection our first day in Dallas/Fort Worth, so we had to taper things just a touch, but we still had a great time.

Keeping up with my runs is always a challenge while on vacay, and this was no exception. I set and met a goal of running four times-- 20 miles total.

Base camp in D/FW was across highway 360 from Cowboys Stadium, where the workout area was large in terms of size, but lacking in terms of actual equipment. It seemed like a place that mattered about 15 years ago. Now it resembles a dungeon. Running outdoors was not really an option, since we were right on a highway in a construction zone. The hotel did have functioning treadmills, so things worked out. My first run was a seven-miler, holding five miles at 8:15 pace. This run felt great. The only other Metroplex run was a three-miler on the day of the game.

I got the other two runs done in El Paso, my hometown. Two five-milers on a hotel treadmill Sunday and Monday. No heart rate data on any of the runs-- just set things to 6.0 and take off. I even worked in three brief weight sessions, since I was nearby.

And speaking of twenty, I chose to make Wednesday my long run day, since I skipped my 18-miler on Saturday. I started around the neighborhood (about 8:15 am) much as I did two weeks ago, with the first pit stop coming at the house after five miles. Then it was a two-mile warmup toward campus as I worked to hold an 8:15 pace for ten miles. Most half-mile splits were closer to 8:30.

I stopped at the campus rec center at 11.5 miles for more Gatorade. The mistake I made is ignoring my Garmin, since it reset and I had to punch in the distance still to go, thinking I still had ten to go and not 8.5. Big mistake. With three to go, the tempo portion of the run ended and the slogging portion began. It became more and more difficult to move forward, and my legs and feet were both pretty sore. I even took a few walking breaks.

But I got it done, running over 21 miles, since I'm so good at math, ending around noon. Total running time was 3:15. This was the hardest I've ever worked on a run, and the worst I've ever felt afterward. It took a hot shower and three hours before I felt like doing anything, and my legs were sore the whole rest of the day.

As I write this, it's the evening after, and my legs feel a lot better. In visiting with a few of my coworkers, I felt like I was supposed to feel. Reassuring, I know, since there's another 20-miler in a week and a half. But I put another brick in the wall yesterday. Another step toward being ready for February 12.