Slushy, Mushy Long Run (with a twist)

It took me more than three months before I ran my first 20km long run in 2010, but this year it took only nine days. Obviously I'm starting with a much better base and am able to do this without risking injury.

Or can I?

Today I DID run 20km and I am blogging to tell you about it. I am not injured, but it was tough and there was one moment where it all almost went completely astray.

Feeling a bit dehydrated I didn't really have much gas facing this run. However, I wanted to test myself against a few hills given that my next race will have those in the last third of the race and running only on flat ground will not serve as adequate preparation. Therefore, I decided to do some loops around a local park that includes a good sized hill. After leaving the house I ran down to Withrow Park and started in on my loops.

It was cold, and that's expected, but it was also very slushy, which I suppose is also to be expected given the lack of sidewalk snow removal in this city. As I ran down the first hill along Carlaw Avenue there were a few bare patches where I could actually see pavement. Otherwise it was all snow or slush. Both were slippery, but the snow was better than the slush.

Rounding the corners and running downhill were definitely tricky and I slipped more than a few times. Then, upon reaching the corner where I would start my first uphill climb, I totally wiped out. As my right foot landed and I attempted to turn to my right my foot slipped to the left and I went down fast. I managed to catch myself with my right arm and only my glove got wet, but it was a scary moment. I could have broken a wrist or really bruised my hip, and what really scared me was twisting or breaking my bad ankle again. None of these happened and I proceeded to run uphill and to complete the rest of the distance. From than point on I pretty much came to a full stop at that corner and didn't fall again.

The climbs were totally frustrating as I had such poor footing that I was forced to work much harder than I really wanted to on a long run. I managed to do the loops a bunch of times, as evidenced by the following elevation profile, before proceeding to complete the second half of my run somewhere else.

The hill is both steep and pretty long, and the whole loop around the Park was 1.3km. Clearly I managed it six times, though I didn't keep track while I was running. I'd like to be able to do this loop for a whole long run sometime while maintaining a steady pace, but I will try and avoid doing it in the slush from now on.

Anyway, the first full week of 2011 is done and I had a good one. My total distance for the week was 58km (36 miles) and it's feels good to start the year off this way. Although the second half of this long run was tough I managed a decent pace, which ended up at 5:14/km (8:25/mile). My goal was to try and stay within 60s of marathon pace per mile, and since my goal is 7:26/mile I managed it, but just barely.

The rest of the day was very sleepy. Hoping to get a good night's rest and make the second full week of 2011 just as good as the first or even better.