no choice but to face the long dark of Moria

Again another long run that felt like it kept going. I love them and I hate them. I really didn't want to repeat my last long run so I changed it up. I did figure 8's around the complex. It was quite interesting and by the end I had it down. I really need to put a course profile on here. I think I'll draw one up and put it on tonight. But for now I'm taking a nice shower and getting some dinner.

Alright today I was battling myself on where to go. Last time I ran the complex route and it was incredibly boring, but I decided I would try it again. As in the words of Gandalf, "We have but one choice. We must face the long dark of Moria." I used my head though, and the little changeup today made everything a lot nicer. The uphills were killer, but they would have been even worse If i would have ran the thing normally. This is for a few reasons, but mostly the larger incline is a beast and everytime I got to that thing I slowed way down. Using the gradual incline I avoided the steepness and was able to get into a better rhythm. As far as pace goes I really had no idea. I just went by feel as normal. I only checked once at 11 miles (halfway) and was ahead of schedule at 1:22: something. I knew it would be all downhill from there so to speak.

Well that's what I thought anyway. Each time I came to that incline my hams revolted (and this was from mile 1). They were so tight I could hardly feel anything else. It was odd, by the end of the run I had grown accustomed to it and actually looked forward to the feeling. I knew I would be super tight from the moment i woke up this morning though. My entire back was sore, shoulders, and quads. The hamstring soreness was deep. At one point I thought i felt a tiny little burst inside the muscle, like a pinprick. I'm not sure if the muscle actually burst or what, but I could imagine that's what it would feel like. It didn't really hurt because it only lasted for a second. The right shoulder was also crying to me, but I just kept shaking it off.

So 4 figure 8's and one normal lap down. I began my next series of 8's, passing mostly the same people, but at random times and in different directions. MUCH better than passing them every lap. It began to get warmer out. I had a black half turtleneck pullover that made it pretty toasty since the sun was heating it up. I filled up a gatorade bottle and put it beside a bush before the run. At 12 miles I ran by and got it and took a few swigs and threw it back. I really needed that. I could feel that I didn't have much energy then, a general empty feeling in the stomach, and I still had plenty more running to do.

So I keep on being consistent. At 18 I started getting sleepy. My body was tired and wanted rest. I ignored it, but it went on another 2 miles which felt like a lifetime. I was just trying to hold on at that point. Finally I had 2 miles left and I could actually see again and became aware of what I was doing. All I had to do was hang on to the pace and I'd make it!! Haha, I know that's not how you're supposed to feel on a long run, but considering how tired I was before I even started the thing I think it was perfectly fine. I thought maybe I could pick it up, but my hands were numb somehow. Not from cold, but it must have been from swinging for almost 3 hours. So I just played it safe and finished as well as I could.

A big problem was my right forefoot. It was very painful for the last 5-6 miles. I'm not sure if it was shoes or what, but it definitely was painful. I skipped jogging a cooldown and walked because of it. Hopefully I can figure out what the reason is, but for now I'll just have to see if it continues. A pretty tough run I would say, but much faster than I had anticipated even for fresh legs! My goal was 2:50, with anything below that being awesome, so I am very happy with the run.

20(22)miles. 30-33 degrees sunny. Zoom 37