Fifty Furlong

I ran the 50 Furlong this past Saturday, with a slow slow time of 1:05:47.

I had an off week this past week.  I was in no mood to run and my body seemed to be telling me that it needed a break.  I was having a hard time recovering from my runs.  My legs felt constantly fatigued.  I ran 6 miles on Wednesday, and had plans to do 14 miles on Friday (with walk breaks) on Friday.  Unfortunately, I only got to mile 10 before I had to quit.  My legs were fatigued and though the walk breaks helped me get to 5 miles easily, the latter 5 were just as much a struggle as before.  Moreover, I ran it in my new shoes which were rubbing in all kinds of wrong places.  I knew I had rubbed through the skin on my heel by mile 6, but I kept going for 4 more before I decided to quit for good.  It was a rough 10 miles.

I had originally planned to do the 14 miles training run and skipping the 50 Furlong (or watching it as I ate a cheeseburger and drank a beer), but since I had only done 10 miles on Friday, I decided to run the 50 Furlong (in my old shoes, of course).  The temperature on Saturday was fairly warm in the upper 30s though there was quite a bit of headwind on the parts of the route back.

 The 50 Furlong is put on by the Hash House Harriers.  50 furlongs is the distance and it's 6.25 miles or roughly 10k.  It's a small race, at only about 50 people total.  Technically, it's a PR for me since it's the first race of that distance, but I'd be a bit embarrassed to list it as such.  I ran it very slowly, at about 10:30 min/mile.  I hadn't fully recovered from the 10 miles the day before, and I started to feel that fatigue by that first mile.  Moreover, the race course is SO incredibly hilly.  I ran the first couple of hills, but I had to walk up the rest of the hills.  The course was fantastic for training, but man, as a race, it was so mentally tough.  I feel like I've gotten soft with all my indoor running on flat tracks.  I need to get back on the road and run the rolling hills.  If only the weather would cooperate!

It's the Get Lucky half marathon this Saturday.  I'll do a couple of 10k loops around the Arboretum this week, but I'll generally keep it light.  I think one double digit run a week is sufficient.  Hopefully, I get right back onto my training schedule next week.