My Longest Run Ever

Ran my longest run ever, a 26K on Saturday.

Grocery Store Stop

I stopped at a grocery store along the way to buy some Gatorade. There were too ladies in front of me who were going so ridiculously slow... I was already 10K in, so I was sweaty and eager to get back out there.

So in line, I popped open the Gatorade and drank a bit. Then I figured hey, it's open, might as well refill my water bottle right here rather than wait. At this point, I notice the lady behind me staring at me, looking a bit moritified... I finish off the little bit that was left, put the cap back on the empty bottle, and put it back on the conveyor belt.

The cashier takes the empty bottle, scans it, then pauses... I think she was going to ask if I needed a bag, but realized that was a silly question. Instead she asks "do you need this?" and I say "no, you can throw it out"... I give her money and leave empty handed.

Weird.

The Run

The rest of the run went fine, although I had some pain here and there pretty much start to finish. Nothing that got any worse, so I was able to finish the run.

It's clear that the muscles I use for cycling - quads and hamstrings - are fine, and my conditioning was fine. But the stability muscles on the inside and outside are behind... especially around my hip. They were the muscles that fatigued first. Not much I can do at this point, other than get in my miles and stretch them, but going forward it's something I will focus more on.

Next week: 29K, followed by 32K, then I back off for a few weeks until the 42.2K Toronto Marathon!