So several weeks ago (Feb. 23) I returned to the Blue Ridge Parkway for a second long run. This time there was no snow, I ran 19 miles, and I had a friend with me. She dropped me off at the start of the Parkway and I ran about 4.5 miles by myself, then she met me at a cross street (since the Parkway itself was still closed for the winter) and we ran about 10 miles together. The whole point of my going to the Parkway is to get in some long inclines (and declines), but I felt bad for her because I had several warmup miles that were flat, up, and down, but when she got out of the car and started running it was four miles up with no breaks. And that was brutal. The run felt so much harder than the last time I'd done it, but I think that's because I was going faster since there was no snow or ice to navigate. (And also because she always runs faster than me and I didn't want to slow her down too much.) At the end of her 10 miles she got back in the car and I continued on back to the entrance of the Parkway where she picked me up. Those last few miles were pretty rough, and I had to stop a couple times to stretch. The problem with stopping, however, is that starting up again is always hard when your body is that worn out. I always feel myself chugging slowly along in the beginning, like the wheels on an old locomotive before they get into a smooth rhythm and pick up speed. Anyway, I got my miles in and logged over 2100 feet in overall elevation gain, and it was really nice to have a running buddy on the Parkway.
A few weeks later (March 16) I ran my longest run thus far: 21 miles. I ran around Charlottesville but tried to make it as hilly as I could (though I'm still nervous that all my "hill" running is not really cutting it as far as preparing for long mountains in the marathon next month). Within the first ten miles I'd already gone up Observatory Hill three times, and I was ready to stop running. But I didn't. Those last eleven miles (with another two trips up O-Hill) were pretty miserable. So miserable, in fact, that there were times when I just started crying. But crying messes with your breathing, so I had to cut that out to avoid getting cramps. I thought a lot about how painful this run was (no shooting, injury pains though, thank goodness) and about how the marathon was going to be even longer and harder, but I never really considered stopping or quitting. I also wondered if I was nearing "the wall," but I don't know. I guess not? This run logged me over 2200 feet in elevation gain. The rest of the day was spent napping and laying on the couch.
And finally, yesterday I ran 14 miles around Charlottesville. I was supposed to work on making 10 of the miles faster, but I also wanted to get some elevation in, so I did O-Hill twice and tried to pick up the pace for the rest of it. I thought I was doing okay with my pace when I'd look down at my GPS watch, but the overall splits at the end didn't really reflect that as much as I would have liked. Oh well. That's part of why I chose to do this really hard mountainous marathon first—so I don't have to worry as much about my time! Yesterday's run was also capped off with a pistachio shell find!
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