Today I had a solid long run with my fellow GRC teamates. We started off at Edward's Ferry and ran on the towpath for the first loop of the Duel Ferries Run. I shivered in the cold rain as I started my journey of 20+ miles. The towpath was covered in puddles, and ice beneath. It seems like that ice is never going to melt. It is thick, rocky, and dense. I cursed half jokingly with Jordan. It seemed the Red Fox had given up on dodging the puddles and trudged right through them. As we got through the first 5 miles of the run, we thankfully turned onto River road which was much more manageable given it was asphalt. After a few more miles, we eventually saw another runner in the distance. "IT'S REAVES!" Jake called out. Sure enough, it was him. He joined us for the rest of the run. As we made our way back to Edward's Ferry, we had picked up the pace a bit. I stopped to take a leak as others got snacks. I chowed down some sports beans. As we started up again, we decided to go back up River Road again to avoid the muck on the canal. At this point my hands started to struggle with the cold/wetness. My legs and feet also were damp. We ran merrily together. After a few more miles, my hands felt worse. They were starting to go numb. At this point everyone had something going numb. We turned left. Eventually we came up to the open area where open fields were on the left, and the wind was against us. I was running in front so it hit me the hardest as others tucked in behind. I shivered some more. Hands felt worse. I picked up the pace slightly to get some heat going in my body to hopefully bring some life back into my hands. After a while, a bunch of the guys turned around, and it was me, reaves, jake marren, and Karl. Jake soon turned around to get in his 18 or so. Karl decided to do 20-21 with me as reaves ran with us too since he was at fewer miles. My hands had started to get more blood flowing as Karl, reaves, and I picked up the pace. The pain in my hands set in. I had to keep the blood flowing and eventually the pain would go away. Very slowly, it did. My hands were finally alive again. We made our way to where River Road ended and turned around. At this point, we had picked up the pace significantly and ran merrily together. The final miles flew by as we pounded. My legs ached, my feet were practically numb, but my hands were fine...which made all the difference in a strange way. I don't know what pace we were going, but I'm guessing around 540s, maybe even down to 5:30s at times. Sure felt like it anyway. The last 10-15 minutes I backed off a little bit, and I let Karl and Reaves go ahead. Still I finished not too long after. Karl had 2:13 on his watch, I got 2:15. I would say the distance was over 20 miles total, since running out and back on river road was the longer half of the 10+ mile loop. I'm calling it 21 for the day. It was a great run.
Solid week of training:
1/11: AM: 3.5m, PM: 4.5m
1/12: PM: 10m
1/13: PM: 11m
1/14: PM: 13m with 5 at Marathon Pace
1/15: AM: 3.5m, PM: 5.5m
1/16: AM: 11m
1/17: AM: 21m with 5-6 at Marathon Pace
Total: 83 miles
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