No Mistakes

Despite the rain, despite the chill, despite the strong desire to crawl into bed for a warm nap, I dragged my ass out the door and went for a run like a good little boy. The rain was fairly cooperative until the last 5 minutes or so when it went from a fine mist to large drops and heavier winds.

Along the way, I saw a VDOT guy inspecting trees. My guess is they'll be cutting some down. Not surprised since I call them the "no mistake" trees. If you drive by and make a mistake in hitting them, it'll be your last. I also saw a new dog on the route. He barked, scared the crap out of me, jogged after me for a few feet then just watched me. Thankfully I was already in Zone 3 because my heart rate spiked. Also had to deal with some opposing traffic by jumping the ditch and running on the berm for a bit. Again, I was lucky and was already in Zone 3 so the extra effort just added to the workout.

And speaking of Zones, I set my watch to give me 8 minutes in Zone 2 and 2 minutes in Zone 3. I nailed the first interval then had to take a few walk breaks in the rest. I'm able to keep my heart rate at 142 if I keep things really slow but I can also bring it back down fairly quickly by walking a bit. Assuming I catch it soon enough. There were times where I wanted to go faster but I knew I needed to stay slow so I just kept at a meandering tempo.

Weather:
Temps were about 55F. Light rain and light winds until the last few minutes where the rain and winds picked up.

Fluids and Fuel:
Breakfast was two waffles, two eggs, yogurt and iced coffee. I had a second iced coffee, water, and a sip of Ginger Ale the rest of the morning. Right before the run I had a packet of applesauce. During the run I had a bottle of plain water. Recovery was Hammer Recoverite mixed with water and chocolate ZICO and some cheese and chips.

Aches and Pains:
Calves were hurting a bit. I think this was because of the reduced speed and slightly altered gait. Outside of that, things felt fine.

Gear:
Wore my warm North Face ball cap, long sleeve shirt, gloves, and two pairs of shorts. Was pretty cozy until the very end when a sudden wind caught me and I got cold for a few seconds. I also forgot to change socks so I wore my old ratty ones by mistake.

Splits:
Outbound - 24:49 (AVG HR 146)
Inbound - 25:09 (AVG HR 151)
Finish - 49:58
MIN HR - 89
AVG HR - 149
MAX HR - 185