Yesterday’s run was cut short by a cold, hard rain in the late afternoon. I was planning to run five miles in my new running shoes, but the weather changed my plans. The biggest problem was the drop in temperature that came with the rain. I had dressed in just shorts and a t-shirt. This was fine until the rain brought along a quick drop in temperature. Being wet and cold was enough to make me stop running.
The good thing is that I was running on the 1/3 mile loop at the church. This means I was not far from the truck when the down pour started. I got in three miles of running, and at a pretty decent pace. My 11:36 per mile pace is about two minutes faster than my typical training runs. I was using the heart monitor and was still able to run at this pace without exceeding my heart rate zone. I’m finally feeling like I’m gaining a little speed. Final run was three miles in 34:45.
Today is my long run, somewhere between 21-22 miles. I have a refueling plan involving gels, a Clif Bar and Gatorade. I need to test this before the marathon. I figure that I need about 160-200 calories for every hour I am running. So a six hour marathon will require 1000-1200 calories. Today I am planning on a five hour run, so I need at least a 800 calories.
