16.12 miles was about two miles short of my goal for yesterday. Let me explain:
The plan was to start in Waukesha and run the Glacial Drumlin trail about 8-9 miles to the Ice Age Trail which meets up with the Lapham Peak (race day) trails after about 2.5 miles. My plan was then to do one loop of the race-day trail (6.5 miles), meet Sherry at the tower and collapse after roughly 18 miles. The solid parts of this plan, to me, was building the mileage while not getting beat up by the trail the whole way, yet get on the trail after most of the miles were logged to get some feel for how race day might go.
It was a great run to start. At about 8 miles I thought, "Almost halfway there." And not ironically. Looking forward to it. I felt great, especially considering how just two years ago the thought of biking, much less running, 16 miles would have seemed ridiculous.
Then at almost exactly mile 15, not quite halfway through my loop on the Lapham trail, my calves seized and screamed. I'd been walking uphills, doing gentle downhills and mainly jogging the flats by that point. No speed, just keeping moving. My calves wanted no more of it. I wasn't even on an incline at the time. It wasn't a mental wall, as I tried to reason through things, stretch, keep going, etc. My brain wasn't ready to give in, but my calves did -- it wasn't an injury, that I could tell. They were just done.
I wanted to text Sherry to meet me at the bottom parking lot a dozen times, but I resisted and still wanted to make my goal. I walked through the pain, slowly. I sat on a bench and let my legs dangle. I slowly continued along the trail. And as I thought about how bad my calves were hurting, I knew that the downhills on this part of the trail were going to be replaced by about three significant uphills getting back up to the tower parking lot. I finally did text that I was going to be short, please meet at lower lot. I did not want to push the last two miles and possibly injure my now-exhausted calves. Everything else seemed fine - quads, hamstrings, feet, etc.
(Oh, also, I forgot to bring water with me. I stopped and drank briefly at a few bubblers, but not much. I think it's entirely possible that if I'd been better hydrated, I could have made the whole planned 18 miles. Food--well, water--for thought.)
Today, my hips are tight, but my calves are fine. It's going to be a good rest day. Sometime in the next 12 days, I need to do a 20 (properly hydrated), and that will be by longest training run before the race.
My new timing plan for the race is 7 hours. I'm looking at 3 hours for the first two loops, and 4 hours for the last two.
