A Big Start to the Week

First and foremost, I ran my first 20-miler on Sunday. It was an out-and-back run starting at the Mount Auburn health club which put us out right at the top of heartbreak hill after running two miles to get to the course. So from the top of heartbreak hill, we ran down Commonwealth Ave and followed the course (in the reverse direction) down Rt 16 towards Wellesley. The turn-around point was at approximately the Wellesley tennis courts. The ones I used to spend time at before committing my legs to running. I plan to use them again soon by the way (Reef??).

Anyway, it was a couple miles before the turn-around point where I started feeling tired. In the reverse direction of the course, Rt 16 has a pretty nasty uphill. That was the start of some heaviness in my legs. I should also mention that Gill and I skiied a half day at Loon Mountain the day before, and the day before that I logged a decent bike workout at the Y. So my legs were certainly not fresh to start the run. And by the time I eventually hit heartbreak hill area, I was REALLY feeling my quads. Every single step was an immense effort up those hills. While I was cursing the previous day of skiing at the time, I'm grateful for the difficulty it added. I hope that it more accurately mimics what my legs will feel like on April 19th when I hit those hills. I also want to mention that the wind on the last mile of the run was so cruel. I looked at my watched an observed that I was clocking a 10:40 pace at one point giving it all I had into the wind.

There were some watch glitches/mistakes during the run, which really ticked me off, but I averaged JUST below 3:00 even on the run, I think about 2:58. This translates to about an 8:55 pace. Factoring in my legs, the wind, and the distance, I was really happy with that effort. Here's the run overview. Again, the time and total distance is a little off due to my screwup with the watch:

20 Miles with Heartbreak Hill

After the run Gill, myself, and three DFMC teammates (Eric, Marci, and Maggie) went out for some lunch at a local diner. We had to wait (painfully standing in the cold) for about 30 mins before being seated. I got me some eggs, toast, etc with 2 tall glasses of Chocolate Milk (great recovery drink). Gill and I then proceeded home where we spent the rest of the day lounging watching a movie (500 Days of Summer... pretty good) and the Olympics. I think I was in bed by 8:30 where I continued to veg. In the end, it was an awesome day.