I have had a good couple of weeks of running.  Nothing spectacular, nothing that leads me to think I am on my way to some PB’s this year, just a series of nice runs.  As a teacher, I am often telling kids to use adjectives other than “nice” and “good”, after all the English language offers a rich and varied vocabulary for all of us to use.  But sometimes “nice” kind of covers it.  My two long runs of 19k and 22k were comfortable, my 10k runs felt strong and my shorter runs were just plain enjoyable.  In short I was blessed to have a couple of weeks of simply enjoying running.

You know where this is going now, right?

When I headed out for a 25k run I had my usual pre-long run jitters, but I was also looking forward to the day.  It was bright and sunny out and the temperature had actually risen to just over 0 degrees.  I had a hilly course set out to help me prepare for Around the Bay, so I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy run, but for the most part it would be the same route as I ran last week for the 22k run.  Really, what is another 3km???

Let’s start by saying warming temperatures don’t necessarily make for a better run.  The fact is I am now very, very used to running in temperatures between -15C and -20C.  So as much as 1 or 2 degrees may not be hot, it is significantly warmer than what I am currently accustomed to.  Another downfall of warmer temperatures – the melting snow.  This would  not be a big deal if sidewalks were graded in a way to deal with the run off.  Unfortunately most sidewalks have an endless number of dips and valleys, all of which allow for pools of icy cold water.  My first soaker came at the 3k mark and the water was cold enough to send a few stabbing pains up my leg.  If I wasn’t landing in water, I was precariously balancing on icy snow on the banks of the sidewalk, often having to walk my way to dry land.

Then there was the wind, which I ran into for most of my first 12km.  If you managed to turn out of the wind it was warm enough to be in a t-shirt, but once that wind hit you, layers were required.  I made several stops to remove, then replace layers of clothes.  And of course the one time I dropped a glove had to be while working my way through yet another puddle.  My first four hills all managed to be positioned perfectly to ensure I had to run into a strong headwind while working my way up to the crests.  I can’t say I was having fun, but I was managing.

Then something ugly reared up in front of me.  Chances are you have met it too.  The Wall.  I wasn’t hurting, I wasn’t out of breath, I had no stomach issues (amazing for me on a long run), but I just had nothing left.  And this was at the 12.5 km mark.  I took a walk, had a snack, started again…and The Wall was still there.  Plan B was put in place.  I was still going to finish my run (besides, it was going to be a long, long walk back to the car if I didn’t) but I decided I would instead run two separate runs.  So I went for a 20 minute walk, ate all of my salted raisins and almonds (too late to save the run, but they were very tasty!) and headed into the nearby recreation centre to warm up, take a bathroom break and dry out that glove I dropped.  I even had the chance to say hi to my kids and husband as they had just arrived there to go for a swim.  I joked that they would probably be home before me.  Ends up it wasn’t a joke, they managed to swim and get home long before I arrived.

Finally, and with little enthusiasm, I headed out again.  I am just going to say it was a very, very long 11k.  I had done 12k a couple of days before this long run, and the time flew by.  This time it dragged by so slowly I was honestly starting to believe my Garmin was malfunctioning.  Despite all of this I threw in some more hill work – three 300m hill repeats and one long gradual hill before finishing for the day.

I’m not really sure what to call this run.  Is it still a long slow run when you take a giant break in the middle?  Or was it merely two shorter runs that happened to fall on the same day?  I do know that I at least achieved the “S” in my LSD – keeping it slow was not an issue!  In fact it was the slowest pace I have run since the marathon in October.  As to how I feel about the run…hmmm.  I should probably be upset by it, the run certainly didn’t even come close to my expectations.  But at the same time, I did manage to run about 24.5 km, no matter how ugly they may have been, and I did a total of 9 good size hills.  I wish it had been better, but I was still out there running, so that has to be worth something.

Why did the run go so wrong?  Honestly, there are too many factors to begin to guess.  I don’t think I ate enough before the run, in fact I was hungry at the start.  I probably should have refueled before the 12km mark.  Now that the temperatures are warmer I need more water with me.  The days of water bottles freezing within 10 minutes are over (I think?) and the two bottles I had in my belt did not last the entire run.  This was also my heaviest week of running in months, so good old fatigue may have played a major role.  Finally, to be honest, the wind killed me.  That is a concern since I have a feeling wind could be a big factor at Around the Bay.

In my attempt to see the glass half full, I have decided to look at yesterday’s run as something I survived and something that will make me stronger.  O.K., not as strong as if I flew through an uninterrupted 25km, but with only three weeks to Around the Bay, I’ll take what I can get.