The first thing an observant reader may notice about the title of this post is that it doesn't add up to 419. I've changed the math to reflect the missed run of 4.5 miles on 7/13.
Thursday's run is posted. It was a great one, and I was super-happy with the 8:47 average pace.
Saturday's run felt pretty good, too. I was especially proud of the fact that I maintained a better average pace
and ticked off better splits than the 10 mile run one week before. I do wonder, though: does the improvement have more to do with the difference in the weather (a little cooler and less humid this week vs. last) or in my conditioning?
Funny story from Saturday: Jess and I stopped by Dick's Friday night so I could pick up some Body Glide. (If you're not familiar with Body Glide, think of it as Chap-Stik for areas of the body that are prone to chafing over long distances.) While we were there, I bought a new pair of running shorts, and I decided to wear those shorts on Saturday morning.
Fast-forward to about 7:30 AM on Saturday. I'm ticking off the miles, feeling pretty good about my pace, and looking forward to finishing my run. At about mile 11.2, I happen to look down at my feet and realize that the fronts of my socks are reddish in color ... then it slowly dawns on me that both shins are streaked in red, like this:
With only 3/4 of a mile to go, I felt confident that I could finish the run ... but the doubt definitely started to creep in. I began asking myself questions: Did I apply the Body Glide incorrectly? Apply it in the wrong places? Are these new shorts cutting into me somewhere? Why haven't I felt any pain? So I hammered through the end of the run and headed back to the car, where the first thing I did after taking a couple of pictures was try to find out where the bleeding was coming from.
As it turns out, the as-yet unwashed shorts were bleeding, not me. So the moral of the story is to wash dark garments before running 12 miles in them. Lesson learned ... but I did get some cool red and white socks out of the deal.
