Notes
Temp 66 Winds Calm. Humidity 97% Dew Point 65°.
Two Hour (Mostly) Flat Long Run. At 3:00 p.m. yesterday afternoon, had some doubts. Nap, recovery mow, normal evening roll, stretch, & floss, and decent night's sleep and wake up 110% sure that I am good to stick to original plan.
Pace/Effort = None...comfortable stride with soft foot strikes.
Hydration = Go into it with mild urge to pee and drink every 16:00-20:00 minutes. Sugar-free Gatorade & water mix first hour. Water only second hour.
Stage 1 - Round about route to the track. Few hills. 3.93 miles at 8:52 average pace.
Stage 2 - Two full drill sets with a controlled easy strider after each set. Strides topping at 6:45ish. Had neglected drills earlier this week during recovery, so wanted to make sure I got these in. Didn't count time against my two hours for the day.
Stage 3 - Back to car in pool parking lot. Couple more hills. 3.14 miles at 8:51 average pace.
Stage 4 - One hour "test" run. Using my 2.30 mile park tempo loop. Mostly flat, couple of small inclines, but no real "hills". Plan to put a couple of peanut butter crackers in my mouth and let them dissolve as I run. Will stop at car each loop, get a good swig of water, pop trunk, put a couple more crackers in my mouth, then head back out. Leaving the watch running, so this will be "real time".
Averaged 8:32 pace for the hour. Felt good most of the time...felt absolutely great the rest of the time. Tried to rush first stop and choked a little on the water. Appears I will only be able to dissolve 4-5 crackers per hour. Have to be careful not to bite into them before they are soaked in saliva. Crumbs get dusty in the mouth.
Hydration plan worked much better today. Mild urge start to finish (maybe a little more at times, but that was usually when I knew there was a restroom coming up...think it was mental). Went through 24 oz. of liquids. Need to read up and see if that will be sufficient. Warm humid day and temps hit 75° by the time I was done. Was exposed to direct sun on most of the loop. Good day to do initial testing.
Possible that I learned more about endurance running in two days than those other folks will in 12 weeks with the ACE Certified Personal Trainer??...know I saved $185. Dime and seven pennies, so technically even further ahead.