This morning I ran my first 18-mile run! WHOOO HOOOO!! It went extremely well - although I did have a little hiccup along the way.
I was hoping to leave around 6:30am, but Walt was having a hard time waking up and getting out of bed (
who wants to leave the comforts of a warm bed that early anyway) - which meant taking him outside for his morning walk (and potty break) was slightly delayed.
I was out the door by 7am, which still wasn't too bad. It was actually pretty chilly when I left (still in the 40s) and I even saw some frost on the grass. During yesterday's bike ride the wind was pretty strong, so I knew I wanted to get out early enough to beat the breeze, as well as the warming temperatures. I try to wear BRIGHT colors so that the cars along my route see me, and today was no exception.
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| Quick picture of my outfit while I was waiting to "locate satellites" |
Oh yeah, the hiccup, let me get back to it.
So I filled up my
Nathan Performance Intensity Race Vest while I was getting everything else ready to head out the door. Once I grabbed my fuel (this morning I used
Sport Beans - more on that later), I went and grabbed my vest to put on. I noticed, once it was on my back, that it felt a little wet, but thought maybe it was more cold from the water I filled it with than actually moist. I touched it and low-and-behold
IT WAS WET! I pulled out the bladder and nothing appeared to be leaking. I ended up having to pour out a little pool of water from the base of the bag -
STRANGE. I made sure everything appeared to be in working condition, put the bladder back in the bag, and went on my way.
Around mile two (once I had warmed my hands a bit from the cooler temperatures) I touched the base of the bag and felt that it was still wet. I figured that was to be expected though, seeing as it wasn't like it would have dried in the cooler temps and not being in the sun (it is near the small of my back). As the miles went on I realized it was
still leaking. My back was soaked by about mile 4, but only from about the middle of my back down to my waist. At first I was slightly annoyed, but by the end of the run I came to be thankful for it - the water actually kept me rather cool. {Maybe my better attitude was due to finishing the book
Running Within yesterday - where I was learning to turn negatives into positives.}
{Once I got home I pulled the bladder out, but have yet to fully investigate the bag, so not quite sure what the issue is. This was probably the 6th time I used it. I didn't seem to be sucking in any air, like there was a leak in the tube or anything, but again, I'll have to look at in more in-depth (or have hubby check it out) to figured it out.}
As I mentioned, I used the
Sport Beans for fuel today (on my
15-Miler and
17-Miler I used
Clif ShotBloks but didn't have any more, so went with what I had "in stock" in the cupboard). At mile 6 I took a sample bag of the "
assorted flavors" that I had picked up at one of the many race expos I have been to lately. I think there were a total of 5 or so beans, and I think I had two Lemon Lime, two Orange, and one Fruit Punch. I have to say - I don't think any of them were particularly my favorite - but hey, as long as they work I guess. Around mile 12 I broke into the
Extreme Pomegranate bag I had (which includes caffeine) and took another 4 beans. Like the site says - it definitely '
shocked my taste buds' (unfortunately
NOT in a good way...). I know Ryan really likes the
Sport Beans, so I think I will leave the rest of the package (and any more that we get in the future) for him.
Since I was running with long sleeves, I didn't see my pace for most of the run, but from the looks of it I was running pretty even splits - averaging around 9:40 pace. The run itself was pretty uneventful (minus the water on my back). It was AWESOME seeing everything ready for tomorrow's
Oceanside Ironman - tons of folks out on their bikes or getting in their last minute shake-out run. I'm thinking I might even go down to spectate for a bit of it tomorrow morning.
And for the rest of the afternoon I spent it with Walt, on the porch, rehydrating and reading The Hunger Games (again).
{CLEARLY I will be putting down the book once March Madness starts up tonight -
COME ON BLUE, LET'S MAKE IT TO THE ELITE EIGHT!}
