180-mile week - the first day

This 30-mile day stuff is quite interesting. Whew!

The first run of the day was planned to be 15 miles and it went pretty well. Out the door by 4 a.m., dark dark dark outside, the occasional blindness by high beam encounter, a bit of misdirection through an area that has seen a lot of recent development, but a generally pleasant run. Due to a combination of timing and route issues, Kendall picked me up at 14 miles (with a cup of coffee awaiting me - yayy!), and we went off to the train station to get our sons. Double yayy!

The second run of the day was a bit more challenging...all part of the learning experience.

• After picking up the boys, we took them out to breakfast. Mistake #1: all I thought about when ordering my food was replenishing from the first run. I should have also been thinking about preparing for the second run. Instead I ate too much, probably ate some things I should have avoided, and I should have stuck with one cup of coffee vs. three. The second run started about 90 minutes after finishing breakfast - so all the mistakes I made with food choices had no time to correct themselves. Consequently, my tummy was rather unhappy throughout the second run (though a ginger chew did help settle things down considerably about 6 miles into the run). Note to self, bring lots of ginger chews along on The Run.
  
• Run #2 started at 11:15 a.m. (I was targeting a 3-hour run, to be finished at my massage therapist's table at 2:15). And the temperature got into the 70s today. It's been months since I've run in temperatures that high. Although I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, I definitely overheated. However, this is not a new situation for me so I played it conservatively based on experience and slowed way down, ducked into a couple of buildings that I knew had drinking fountains and got real cold water in me and on me, and found shade where I could. I drained both of my water bottles (vs. this morning when I only drank about half of what I carried with me). Unfortunately, the gatorade I had with me was watered down a bit; I definitely could have used the full strength stuff on this run. I hope we have a string of hot days leading up to the Real Run. I've got some acclimatizing to do!
• Because I ran so slow going to my massage appointment, I only got in 13 miles. To get the total mileage up to 30 for the day, I walked home from my appointment (by the most direct route). Walking was a concession to the heat as well as to not undue everything that Magic Fingers Beggsy had just fixed. Though I do not generally count walking as part of my mileage, I figure it's a pretty realistic scenario for what will be transpiring this summer....more of an ultra approach to the run: walk the uphills, walk when drinking/eating, walk when you need to, run when you're able.
  

The good news is that, other than the lack of sleep, the too-full tummy, and the high temperatures, the final 15 miles felt pretty good. My legs are tired, but not trashed. I think I'll give it another try tomorrow!