I have an outfit for my alma mater's important athletic events. I must wash my hands immediately prior to leaving work each day. My current pair of running shoes needs to be the pair sitting closest to the closet wall.
Superstitious? Or suffering from a litte OCD?
Whatever my condition is, I'm pumped about and scared due to my final pre-CLE 20-miler. Of the three times that I've run 20 miles, this was my best. I failed to run one while training for Glass City last year; Joe and Rob got me through my first while training for Columbus last September, then I did one a few weeks ago. Yesterday, I ran 20 miles more than 15 seconds per mile faster than the other two times that I ran that distance. And I felt awesome during and after the run. Of note: my hamstring, which tends to be really annoying in the days immediately following a long run in excess of 13 miles, feels fine.
I should only be happy, right? Probably. BUT, some things didn't go right:
1.) I didn't eat prior to the run.
2.) I only fueled once--at mile 7.5-ish.
3.) After a pit-stop at home to pick up Joe for my last 2.4, I stiffened up and slowed to 9:00+ per mile.
On one hand, I feel stupid. I didn't treat my body properly, and I worry that in the coming days, I am going to pay for it. On the other hand, I feel that even with those disadvantages, which I did unto myself, I kicked some ass. Back to the other hand, I may have spent myself and my body's vengeful wrath is waiting to sneak up and wreak havoc on me.
I think I'm going to be cautiously optimistic as I taper toward CLE. The Glass City Half will be a real test for me this coming Sunday--will I run hard and go for a PR? Or will I take it easy and run for the fun of it?
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