Worth Repeating

Well this weekend was mile packed and entertaining. This past weekend, Saturday April 7th, Red and I ran with Mojo running for a 20 miler.  I really like this group because everyone is nice and encouraging, actually that's kind of a trait for most runners, but anyway. The coach emailed course directions for everyone to follow in case people were separated.  It was a group run in the fact that we started as a group and everyone could technically run together, but no one was obligated to stay together.  In the directions it said that we would do a 14 mile loop which was the back half of the Flying Pig Marathon we're all doing in 4 weeks, then we could add on a 4 mile loop to get to 18 for our long run, and then we could add another 2 mile out and back for those that wanted to reach 20 miles.  Since the plan was for us to come back to the parking lot where we started after 14 miles Red and I opted to only carry one hydration pack and just pick up the other one 14 miles later.  Well it turned out that we missed the memo and when the group started we did the 4 mile loop first which meant we wouldn't be back to the car until 18 miles later.  Well since I had the awesome idea that we were coming back after 14 miles so I left most of my nutrition in my pack which was in the car.  It didn't turn out badly though because Red had more than enough so he was nice enough to share with me for the remainder of the run after I ran out around mile 13.  It's really good that Red and I can work so well together and not get cranky because after we realized that we weren't going to be coming back to the car we decided to share carrying the pack so he wouldn't be carrying it the entire 20 mile run.

Red was great and carried the pack the first 10 miles and those were the hardest 10 miles of the entire run. Not only did we climb uphill for almost the entire time, but the first 6 miles I migrated us to the front of the pack with a group of guys who were maintaining a happy 9-9:30min/mile pace.  That pace is a great happy pace for me but not so much when you're pushing uphill and carrying a pack.  Red was less than amused with my decision to stick with those guys but he never really got cranky.  At mile 6 Red simply said "Ok Speedy it's time to slow down and I want a gel".  So after that we kind of just hung out doing our own pace for the remainder of the run.  We ran into a couple girls that were going the same speed we were but we kind of just hung out with them for a couple miles before they decided to stop at a gas station for a bathroom and water.  Since Mojo Running is a free running group they don't supply water like some of the other groups.  I am nearly positive that nearly every running group in Cincinnati was running a 20 mile loop that encompassed the back half of the Pig this Saturday. It was really cool seeing so many people running and looking at directions to all essentially go the same way.  The other cool part was the fact that since there were so many runners training for the same goal that it meant there were lots of people to give you bits of encouragement and just lift you up a bit on such a long run.  I ran into a friend from high school which was really cool and I'm pretty sure that she had no idea how much making me laugh and seeing some one else familair on the course helped.  Red and I were passing people and suddenly someone yelled my name which was weird.  I turn around and there was Stacy Moyer.  I was confused but happy at the same time.  She told me I looked like a bad ass running with a backpack, that made me chuckle and also motivated me.  You get really tired running 20 miles and randomly I would chuckle when I was tired and be like "I'm not tired, I'm a bad ass running with a backpack" laugh some more and push harder.  It's the small things that make you happy running.  We ended our run feeling strong and averaging about a 10:30 pace which is about a minute faster than we averaged our other long runs!  I was very ok with this!  I paid for it today though.

Elevation change for the Flying Pig Marathon course that we ran.

Earlier in the week Red and I were lifting at the gym and ran into one of our friends who is a personal trainer.  Well he's been asking if we want to ride together for quite a while now so I told him that we were planning a 50 mile ride on Sunday, my brain didn't put 20 mile Saturday run and 50 mile Sunday run together at the time.  He accepted the offer and everything was peachy.  Until I couldn't touch my toes this morning.  I text Mike (PT friend) and told him he better take it easy and not show up with Zipp wheels (race wheels).  He said today would be an easy ride with just a few hills.  I knew I was in trouble when his text ended in lol and he showed up with Zipp wheels.  Yep.  His "easy" pace is to maintain 18-19mph for the first 6 miles.  He then had the BRILLIANT *insert intense sarcasm here* idea to do a pace line with intervals on 3-4 minutes maintaining 22mph.  Worst idea ever.  I swear that he said 3-4 min on then 3-4 min off.  I was wrong.  Or he decided against it, either way it didn't happen. Red went first and I hung on for all I was worth drafting off his wheel the best I could.  Red's bike computer wasn't working that great so when it said he was doing 17 it really meant 23-24.  Ugh.  I yelled at him and he back off.  Then apparently it was my turn right away.  Do not pass go, do not drink water, do not breath.  Did I mention Mike is a Personal trainer?  He gets paid to make people cry in pain.  Well I went and I was dying.  I took my turn and pushed it and succeeded.  This is where Mike excels.  He encouraged me whenever the head wind tried to knock me backwards, and kept telling me to keep pushing.  Then when I was about to kill someone because we were going to do it all AGAIN he decided to back off and compliment my sweet arm warmers.  He chucked the intervals idea (thank God) and we continued on at our "easy" pace.  We then did hills, which were a lot better than that stupid pace/interval line, and then migrated our way back to the car.  The actual ride took a little over 2 hours including stops and we only went 30 miles.  I probably would have murdered someone if we kept going. I was in a not so happy mood during intervals but I did perk up after I ate two gels before we started doing hill repeats.  I was originally only going to have one gel but when Mike took a second one I decided it would be best to follow suit. 

How I feel like Mike looked suggesting intervals and hills on our "easy" day.

After 50 miles in 2 days of nonsense my legs are tired, they feel fine when I'm sitting but hurt when I go to stand up, but it was definitely worth it.  I actually would most likely do it all over again, probably even the exact same way.  On a giant plus side, since the workouts were so intense I had steak and baked potatoes for dinner two days in a row.  That's definitely a win!