Notes
After getting derailed from my planned 60-mile week by a stomach bug, I was able to get back on the horse on Saturday morning with our group. My plan called for a 22-miler, but I was very luck to get in 20 in what was one of the most difficult training runs I've ever completed.
Our group had a 19-miler planned using an out-and-back route that covered a lot of great places in Nashville. We started out in the Belmont University area, ran through downtown, crossed the river into east Nashville, and finished the outward half in Shelby Park and the Shelby Bottoms Greenway. The temperatures were great, but it started raining pretty steady about 7 or 8 miles into the run. Since I had not eaten much at all on Thursday or Friday, I started running out of fuel around mile 14, and then completely ran out during mile 17. It was like hitting the wall in a marathon. On top of this I was still dealing with nausea and stomach cramps that popped back up on the inward half. I don't ever remember feeling that bad during a training run.
One of my favorite things about running with our group on Saturday is having breakfast with everyone after the run. However, on Saturday I felt so bad at the end that I just changed my shirt, wrapped a towel around me, and drove straight home. I'm glad that I got the miles in, but it was not a pleasant experience. Even with missing my Thursday and Friday runs, I still got in 45 miles for the week.
After taking Sunday off, Paxton and I hit the sloppy trails this morning in Percy Warner Park. Though the trails were nasty from all of the rain this weekend, the temps were perfect, the conversation was engaging, and the run was one of the more enjoyable ones I've experienced recently. Nice change from the difficult effort on Saturday.
Beast Mode...ON!