Day 21 - 17 1/2 miles in 32 degrees ...

So today it was cold - and at times it was windy ...

My plan was to leave the house by 10am and be back by 1pm ... since plans never go 100% the way I want I did not get going until 10:40.  The weather said it was 34 degrees and would be getting colder, it also said winds were gusting 12-14mph and the windchill would make it feel like 26 degrees.

I geared up with my 4 bottles on the fuel belt, 3 waters and one eFuel.  I also took two efuel gels and one Gu gel with caffeine.  It was cold but I did not face a headwind until I hit the third mile.  It was also shortly after mile 3 that I started feeling some abdominal discomfort.  Typically I just fart away but my body didn't feel right.  Yesterday I ran a 5k and then gorged myself at a family party - italian food and pastries ... I was so full I had no dinner.  Really smart the night before a big run; though I never claimed to e all that smart to begin with.  So today my breakfast of fiber one cereal and my protein shake was rattling my body back into shape and my body was starting to revolt at mile 3.  When I hit mile 5 I was about to lose it - I had to pitstop into a McDonalds and take care of business.

After stripping down and getting back geared up I was off again - I figured I would be good but nope - the rumbles started again.  I took an efuel gel and realize I dropped the other one - followed it up with 10 ounces of water and I started thinking in my head - where can I stop - how far before I crap myself - can I make it all the way to mile 10 and destroy my mom's house or do I need to bail on this run at mile 8 (I knew if I stopped at home I was finished) ... I tightened the cheeks and ran on.

I rang the bell at Mom's and basically barreled past her grumbling "bathroom" ... I know she was trying to talk at me but I was all geared up and I couldn't hear her over the music.  I again stripped down - did my business - drank another 8 ounces of water - refilled my bottles.  Thanked Mom and had 8 more miles to go.  Leaving Mom's the wind was stronger and I was immediately chilled to the bone.  I told myself I would run 3 miles before looking at my watch again ... and so I did and not surprisingly these were my speediest of the day.  I find I look at my watch three or so times a mile - looking at my pace and HR - it is annoying but I don't want to burn out come marathon day.

At mile 14 I was in Bay Park and a lot of people were working on their Sandy ravaged homes.  Martin Luthor King day and people were off from work - somewhat depressing running down here.  I was cruising down Kirgin Court and I heard my name called.  A buddy from high school was working on his house that had 4 feet of water in it during the storm surge.  Stopped got a tour of the house and caught up - hopefully he and I will do some mud runs next year - Spartan's or the Tough Mudder ... getting going again was cold and my body was not happy to be running again.  Still never felt bad - hydration was good and I finished up at home at 17.5 miles.

Splits:
1 - 9:08
2 - 9:03
3 - 9:16
4 - 9:05
5 - 9:15
(stopped 4 1/2 minutes at McDonalds)
6 - 8:47
7 - 8:56
8 - 9:14
9 - 9:04
10 - 9:07
(stopped 7 minutes at Mom's)
11 - 7:53
12 - 8:40
13 - 8:57
14 - 9:15
(stopped 17 minutes at Mike Collin's house)
15 - 9:30
16 - 8:33
17 - 9:00
Was at a 9:15 pace the final 1/2 mile ...

Spent 1:41:24 in my heart zone out of 2:45 running ... hydration/nutrition felt good - legs sore but not fried now 5 hours later.  Weight loss for the run was 6.4 pounds opposed to 8 pounds from last week so I am moving back in the right direction regarding staying fed ... hopefully next week I can shorten that gap to 5 pounds.