Weighing Down, Splits and Other 22-Mile Tidbits

Here are some things that did not make Monday's 22-mile recap

Heavy Load

Once I got to 22 miles, I had a choice to make - either push on through to about 22.4 in order to get home quicker or walk. At 22.08, I stopped to walk. I thought the walk would take me less time than it did, but I walked... well, at first I walked and then I hobbled and I think by the time I got home I was shuffling. Dragging, perhaps.

Anyway, somewhere along on my hobble, I tried to lighten my load. I took off my fuel belt, Garmin, hat and heart-rate monitor strap. After a few moments, I realized something. Those things were heavy.

Maybe it was just me being fatigued and exhausted, and it just felt heavier. But I really do think it was extra weight. I'm wondering if I can cut some of it down.

The thing that felt the heaviest was my hat. I might have to ditch the LB hat and go with something else, something lighter. I really don't want to do that but the hat was drenched. It was dripping with sweat for a long part of the run. I mean, literally dripping, like if you had poured water on it and the drops were just falling off the bill.

I have a couple of weeks to find an adequate replacement for the hat if that's what I choose to do. Right now, the prospect of running with a heavy hat doesn't seem like the greatest but we'll see how the hat feels to me in the coming weeks.

As for the rest of the equipment, the fuel belt is a vital part of my race and ain't going nowhere; the heart-rate strap.... well, I may give that its own blog post. The Garmin is also an important tool.

Cold Came, Vanished

One of the strangest things that happened after my run was the sudden emergence of a cold. Now, it hasn't been the hottest summer - at least not yet - but the weather has been in the mid-80s (about 30 degrees Celsius for my Canadian readers ;] ). Anyway, I haven't had a cold or anything resembling a cold for months. But within 20-30 minutes of me finishing my run, I was all but holding a box of tissues. I had the onset of a cold. It lasted all day.

I'd hoped that a good night's sleep would take care of it but it lingered. I was still using the tissues for most of Monday. Then, all of the sudden, it went away. I don't know when that happened but it's gone. It was the strangest thing. I didn't do too much research into it but I would suspect that my body was quite weakened after my run and I was suddenly susceptible to things such as colds. I guess I'm lucky it wasn't a fever or anything too bad.

Splits

I was not concerned with speed (or in this case, the lack of speed) but the Garmin keeps track of my splits for me. Here are the splits. I was all over the place apparently. I do like that my fastest mile was Mile 18, and my second-fastest was Mile 22.

M1 - 10:54; M2 - 10:22; M3 - 10:54; M4 - 10:16; M5 - 10:09; M6 - 10:17; M7 - 11:11; M8 - 10:55; M9 - 10:44; M10 - 10:27; M11 - 10:59; M12 - 10:50; M13 - 10:35; M14 - 10:37; M15 - 10:48; M16 - 11:04; M17 - 10:42; M18 - 9:57; M19 - 10:44; M20 - 11:29; M21 - 11:31; M22 - 10:05.

Pushing Through

I know a lot of runners talk mess about the treadmill, the so-called "Dreadmill." That's fine. I understand the hatred that arises when considering a run on the 'mill. But there are some times when having run on the treadmill makes for a great training tool.

There are moments in races when you just have to get some miles in. Maybe you are running at a fast pace or maybe you are wasted, fatigued, exhausted. And during these miles, all you want to do is to get the miles done.

When you run on the treadmill, that's all you can do - get the miles done. You can't really concern yourself with scenery or trying to maintain a pace on the 'mill. You control the pace so unless you push the buttons to make it go faster or slower, you don't have to worry about staying at the same pace. And you are on the treadmill and aren't going anywhere. The scenery remains unchanged.

You're a bit like a mouse running on a wheel.

That's how I felt at about Mile 19. Thinking "Oh, I'm only three miles away" was of no consolation to me. I just needed to get the miles in and get them over with. I needed to be a mouse on a wheel. I just needed to forget about everything and put one foot in front of the other, and that's what I did. I recovered both physically and, most importantly mentally, and was able to kick into gear for the last mile.

So instead of focusing on my Garmin and thinking things like "Why does this thing not move any faster???" or "Oh my God this sucks, I just want to be done" I was able to just plow through that mileage.

The treadmill helps me get through miles like that. And I know that I will have a few miles like that in San Francisco.

Picture

I snapped a picture of myself after the run, mostly so you could see the type of weather that accompanied me along my route.

 

I tried several times but this is the best shot I got. Ain't great but oh well. I'd just run 22 miles so you'll have to forgive me.

I might have some more to say about this run but I may not. Fo rnow, that's all I've got.

The Hat

I've had many, many hats in my life. When I was in high school, I preferred to wear baseball hats to school. I had all sorts of hats, and not all of them were of teams I liked. I did have rules, though, as I would not wear a hat of a team I despised (you still won't catch me wearing any Packers or Yankees gear, for instance).

While I don't wear hats every day like I used to, I still have plenty of them around. Including old and dirty hats, hats that seem to be well past their sell-by date.

Like my old LB hat.

I mentioned in Sunday's post how I'd resurrected it. I don't exactly remember when I got it, as I've had at least three LB hats (which are for sale here at the LB Online Store). The most recent one I had, I've had since at least 2005, and I'm guessing it even goes back further.

Here's me wearing it in 2006:

don't let this guy talk you into drinking beer

I weighed in at a robust 262 in that picture, and I'd already dropped more than 40 pounds at that point.

Here's the same hat on the same-but-different-looking head about one year later.

feeling good in my LB hat

I was around 210 at this point, so about 20-25 pounds heavier than I am today. Wow. Unreal. I wasn't a runner in that picture as I hadn't quite yet contemplated taking up the sport, but I was getting close. To contemplating, not to actually running.

(oh yeah, bonus points if you can tell where this picture was taken... and double bonus points for the first picture)

Anyway, I'm not sure how it happened but that hat got dirty. Real dirty. It fell behind the couch and was lost in the abyss that is behind the couch. I'm not sure why I held on to it. I guess I knew that I would resurrect it.

It was actually difficult to bring back to life. Here's what I did. Try and stay with me.

1. Put in washer along with a load of darks.
2. Set aside to air dry.

Did I mention how I never used to actually wash my hats because I didn't like how they looked after a washing? That was the quickest way to ruin one of my old hats, to throw it in the washer.

Maybe these newer hats are different. Or maybe I just don't care much anymore about how hats look after they are washed. Regardless, I have my hat with me once more.

If I have one complaint, it is this: the hat says One Size Fits All, but I could use it just a little more snug on my head. However, I think the old LB stretched it out a little bit with his big dome.

Still, I can wear it and that's what matters.

from washer to 22-miler

I bet the guy in the first picture never thought he'd run 22 miles in that hat one day.

Oh, and by the way I'm not sure why my mouth is open like that. In fact, I didn't even realize it was open until I saw the picture, which is why I took another one, the one I used in Monday's post. I look like a fish, like a pink fish. I'm only sharing this picture here with you because I like you, blog reader. So don't get smart with me and my fish mouth.