Weather - through a strange set of circumstances, this was the only day on the whole trip I could even get in a run this long, so I was stuck with whatever happened weather wise. It wasn't super hot, in the 60s and 70s, but the humidity was impressive. Around 90% when I walked out the door this morning.
Sidewalks - I feel like I never have to ask in Minneapolis or St Paul, "are there sidewalks on that street"? It's an important consideration here, and even more relevant because my reflective gear is at home. (I'd planned to be doing this on a bike trail.) So there I was on Victory Parkway going "wtf?" when there was no sidewalk in sight for about a mile.
Hills - I'd originally had this slated as 22, but with the Cincinnati sized hills, I decided it could just be a simple 20. That took me long enough as it was. I went up a big hill on Victory Parkway between miles 6 and 8; down the big hill all the way into downtown and to the river from miles 8 to 11; and then all the way back up all the elevation I'd lost from miles 16 to 19. I ran mile 16 and ran/walked from there to the top. The last mile was literally all down hill which was great.
The route - my parents didn't want me to go out to the bike trail early. For some reason they thought running through Norwood in the dark would be safer. I picked this route at the last minute. Other than Victory Parkway having no sidewalks it was a pretty good choice. I'd run parts of this route for the Flying Pig but most of it was brand new. Compared to where I normally run, there were so many stop lights.
Nutrition and hydration - I think the salt sticks are working great. I had a ton of them becuase it was so humid out. I also ate a 'big' breakfast before I left of yogurt, banana and granola. I took a gu every 4 miles (which I've been told is a lot, like every 50 minutes) and 2 gus at mile 12. (I barely got down the gu at mile 16 without gagging.) I had a total freak out about running out of water so I filled my bladder again around mile 15 (and barely drank any of that stuff).
Timing - I ran this route in about 4:40 (which I know is slow) but there is a nature break in that time, time for getting lost and what I think is a lot of time for stop lights. I'm not sure how I feel about this time. I mean, at mile 3.5 I was already at 48 minutes which is ridiculous. Who knows what I actually did. Here's what Nike thinks, but they also think this was 24 miles which is crap.
Music - The transition to running without music has been so much less painful than I ever would have expected. I had my tunes with me but kept the earbuds out until about mile 7. I wanted to have no music for anything in the dark and anything without sidewalks. Once I started going up hill I wanted something to distract me. I'm pretty sure I took the earbuds out in one other place along the run but I can't remember now.
Other stuff -
- Running downtown was a blast but I think the novelty would wear off if I had to do it again.
- The "Ohio River Bike Trail" is not complete. That's how I got lost.
- What's up with all those water fountains not being turned on? Rude.
- So much fun to be in Eden Park and running into downtown. Gorgeous.
- The river was amazing. It looked high to me but I know it's not. (Who can say drought?)
- I should find a new route for every 20-miler I do to make them less awful.
- No ice bath but I did stretch a lot and kept moving throughout the day, especially when I made dinner for all those people.
- I found myself not caring about this run which was mostly hormonal (awesome) but about two hours later was all "oh awesome, now I get to taper"
- Still trying to decide on which shoes to wear on Marathon Sunday. The ones today are slightly more shoe but I also had a big blood spot on one sock when I took them off.
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