Difficult 5 miler Prospect Park

It's interesting how the route is traced in red, like the blood I feel I've left behind.

This one didn't go well. I thought that with the lower heat, I'd do OK despite the humidity. Such was not the case. I had difficulty breathing well for most of the run, but especially the first mile. The new shoes are far from broken in and felt like lead weights. It was a pleasant day, with a good breeze and that was my saving grace I think. The second and third miles were pretty rough and I just knew I didn't have enough in the tank to do the full five miles, but by the time I'd finished the third, the shortest route home was to finish the five.

I fueled well the night before and had a decent breakfast, so I don't think that was the problem. But I only brought water and that WAS a problem. The last long run (4 miles), I'd brought HEED, but that sat in my stomach like a lump and caused problems, so this time I thought I'd try water. Not helpful at all. It may be that I'd mixed the HEED too weak to be easily absorbed (i.e. incorrect osmolarity). I'll keep working on it.

I may also have to start in on the pre-run and during-run gels, since this measly five miles took me over an hour and I was definitely hurting for energy by the end. I mean, within sight of where I'd end my run I had to drop to a walk for a bit. I also got a bit loopy, starting to comment on people how I liked their dog, or their shirt, or their identically-dressed kids that all looked like ducklings following their mother. A man should keep his mouth shut about such things.

Also, a man would not complain about how hard the run was. Fail, fail, fail.

In other insanity, I've officially signed up for the Staten Island Half and will shortly be entering December's Las Vegas Half, which I will run somewhat behind my sister and her friend. I'd love to be able to run with Rachel again like the Houston Half, but the stars aren't going to align like that again. My training would have to go phenomenally well from this point on and Rachel would - frankly - have to be injured or untrained. I don't want that.