Two weeks after Goblin Valley I am back to the day to day in preparation for Thunder Road next month and a return to the roads.
Because of the upcoming decrease in race distance and the asphalt surface and the time goal associated with this event I am adding a little bit of speed to the next month of running, decreasing volume a tad and working on running relaxed and fast, not hard- never hard.
We know that no matter our level of fitness, the absence of hard does not equate to easy. Yesterday's run was a great example. As I laced up for the reunion with the long training run I felt a little warm and a little bored. Not good signs.
On the Blue Ridge Parkway I set out and began the continuous climbing and descending. After 8 miles I was ready to turn... tired... tired.
I set my sights on the return and was cruising along, relaxed but feeling the effort. The run was being completed at goal MP or a little below but something was getting to me. The Heat. Running in Boone heat is not something I generally have to deal with, especially since August when I began taking night classes and jamming an hour of running into the fading daylight/ pitch darkness and resulting chill.
I am not complaining about 70's in November but it does cause concern on the run, especially a longish run. I struggled on back to the car, staying mechanically efficient, focusing only on form and not on the bubbling in the gut which seemed to want to surface. It never did.
The rest of my day was spent in Asheville, taking in the local culture and looking for Gluten Free eating options before 5pm on a Sunday (not many). Lynnea and I ended up at the Outback for delicious cuisine. I had the scrumptious, salty Teriyaki Steak. Lynnea had chicken.
As we were settling up the bill, the waiter asked us:
"Can I get you anything else?"
"No, we're good."
"Okay, Love you too."
...and then he walked away. Without explanation. Was this a bet, a prank? I did not feel such a connection with the waiter. Maybe he was just thinking about someone else?
Lynnea and I made our way to the car... flabbergasted as to what had just happened to us... victimized by wayward sentiments of Love.
As a former waiter, I can attest to the pranks and games servers play to help pass the time...his head could have been somewhere else though...
ReplyDelete"I felt a little warm and a little bored. Not good signs." Wow, that says a mouthful.
ReplyDeleteI cracked up at the love sentiment from the waiter. Too funny.
"running relaxed and fast, not hard." I like that.
ReplyDelete