4/25

Brutal 10 miles today over my hardest local route--lots of rollers and a solid mile downhill through a glacial ravine, then turn around and run it all backwards. Normally one of my favorite routes, albeit challenging, but today the real-feel was 32, the wind was 17 MPH, and it was pouring rain throughout the entire run. Ran with Neil and we were soaked and cold, but keeping decently warm with running, and then we headed down into the ravine and hit the first of 3 streams cutting across the pathway (these are not streams that are normally there, but are created when there's this much rain). We were able to jump the first two on the way down, but on the way back they were so wide that there was no chance, so I ended up wading 4 streams that were ankle-deep, and then my shoes were SO heavy and waterlogged that my ankles started hurting on the way back. Had to stop twice to dump the tiny rocks out of my shoes that were carried there by the water, and every half-mile or so I would squeeze the water out of my gloves.

Averaged about 9:37/mile and then 9:08 on the last mile--we were so cold and exhausted that we just pushed it hard for home and didn't speak a word the last three quarters of a mile. Not the best run ever, but definitely gave it a hard effort in those conditions, and I'm trying to focus on effort these days, not just pace.

Garmin worked perfectly the whole time, so that was nice! And since it was the first time I've managed to keep it working and on and not accidentally turn it off, it told me that I'd set a record for my longest run, so that was somewhat flattering even if wildly untrue. Hah--I can't even imagine running another 16 miles in this weather, but it's basically what the Boston marathon was like on Monday, so another kudos to everyone who finished.

Forgot to mention that Nathan was up most of the night last night and then started throwing up this afternoon; Luke got sick later on and now I'm suddenly thinking I might know why I threw up three times during my run last week and why I've been so low-energy the last few days.