20 miles. I don’t get many Mondays off she the rest of the working world is at it. I decided that since my weekend was spent in transit to and from Tampa, today would be my long run. The 3 weeks from your marathon long run everyone is supposed to do. I drove to Loggerhead Park for a 7:30am start. I figured run south, turn and head north, maybe do extra miles up near the lighthouse or Jupiter Island, who knows. It should, be two and a half hours of just running and enjoying somewhat cooler weather. I began the southerly run, looking to keep below the 8 minute per mile pace. I knew where t he water stops would be, I thought a turn at PGA Blvd would be a good plan. The longer I ran south, the more desirable it became to keep going south and run through the miles. At first I thought I’d turn around at the St. Paul’s church, but I kept going. Mac Arthur park? Nope, kept going south. I drank at the Singer Island sidewalk fountain, kept going south. Now I knew I’d be going to Phil Foster Park for a water and restroom break. Once there, I had about 8 miles. I ran around Palm Beach Shores and past the Ocean mall then north. I saw my halfway 10 mile mark and knew that if I went the same way back, I’d be running past loggerhead park and to the pier or something before turning to finish where I parked. At 12 miles, it was noticeably warmer, maybe 9:15 or so. Coming back up lonely Singer Island past the state park, even warmer. The breeze of cool air I started with in Juno Beach was gone. Now I was feeling the effects of not too many recent long runs, no buildup to this, etc. my knee hurt on the right side, I stopped for less than 60 seconds, let it rest and continued with no additional pain from that for the rest of my run. I had two gels with me, one eaten at 8 miles, another at near 16 miles, the water stop at KrankIt. That’s a reliably COLD fountain at any time of day! Once back in Juno Beach, I went around the Duck pond and north again. I hit the Donald Ross water stop! stretched a bit, and kept going north. My pace had slowed but I was still below 8 min miles most of the times I saw my Garmin. Running all that way, I was surprised I didn’t see people I knew riding or running. I went just past Marcinski Rd then turned to get the final mile, which was hot and had me feeling creaky in the hips. I finished and met with Brandon and Diane LeBar. They were at the beach with the two kids and Brandon’s parent who were visiting to see the new baby Aubrey. I showered and spread my towel out in the shade under a palm tree near the shower. I laid in the cooler shade for about 20 minutes, made an appointment for a deep tissue massage and stretched my tired legs.
I drove to Publix after the run, got a quart of low fat chocolate milk, drank that and went early to the massage. Hillary was great, she really dug into the sore spots and she recommended I take an Epsom salt bath after the massage. I had the time, did it, I believe it helped. I won’t be pushing a competitive time in New York, but I will be ready to run a good pace through the city and finish smiling!
drun4fun 