So right now, I am just writing it off as the heat, meaning I didn't manage it very well. I hope, that is the case, regardless, I will give it a go next weekend where hopefully it will be cooler.
Back to my weekend runs, on Saturday, I sat off to run 27 to 30 miles at Terrace Oaks in Burnsville. I ran there for the first time this week, kind of an undiscovered mini gem. When I was last in Run n Fun, Perry mentioned running in Terrace Oaks and Ritter Farm Park. Ok, I was almost embarrassed as I live in the south metro and had never run in either location. My wife and I ran shortly thereafter at Ritter Farm Park, it's ok, some double track trails, some grass trails but it is limited to about 6 miles depending how creative you get. I knew that Terrace Oaks was popular with the mt. bike folks but I also knew it was only about a mile or so for them and I wasn't sure if the hiking and mt. biking sections were co-mingled. It looked like the hiking trail was at least a couple of miles, so on Monday, I ran the loop, turns out there is only a very short section of overlap between the mt. bike and hiking trails. I really enjoyed it, it's a nice up and down loop with a little over 500 feet of elevation gain/loss in each loop and is about 3 miles. Here is a picture of the trail, it ranges from dirt to gravel to grass, not too bad.
Elevation Profile
Back to my plan for Saturday, my original plan was to run 9 or 10 loops but I didn't feel right almost from the start. It was a struggle for me, much more than it should have been and I decided it was the heat and the humidity, I got through the first 2 loops and was getting pretty convinced that going much further was going to be a real challenge and to add to my woes with the heat, my left foot was aching. Knowing that I had Sunday and not wanting to get super dehydrated in the heat or do any additional damage, I ended up quitting after 13 miles figuring I would do 24 to 27 on Sunday.
So today, I decided to go out to Murphy Hanrehan, last time I was out there, it seemed like the grass was high and too many gates were closed so I hoped for better conditions today. I decided to start with the south loop as I knew it was going to get hot fairly quick and it is a lot more exposed than the northern side. I got there around 7:30 am, the horse parking lot was empty, so I proceeded to run the 5+ mile loop, everything seemed good, no major soreness from the 13 miles from Saturday. My left foot seemed ok, a little tender but manageable. On Saturday, it bugged me more than a little. I decided to repeat the loop since the heat was still bearable and I wasn't sure that I wanted to run 20 miles in the northern (hilly) section. The second loop went ok, I grabbed more liquids and headed over into the northern section. My foot was bugging me more so I decided it would be ok if I increased my walking, with all the hills that happens naturally. I meandered around and worked my way through another 12 miles, a pleasant surprise on this section was that a few more gates were open and the grassy areas weren't too bad. Since I was baking a bit more than I would like so I decided to call it a day after 6 hours.
So a little less than 3 weeks out from Superior with no long run greater than 23 miles, a sore left foot, suffice to say, I think my runs next weekend need to go a whole lot better. Otherwise, I wonder if Larry will let me drop down to the marathon?
Back to my plan for Saturday, my original plan was to run 9 or 10 loops but I didn't feel right almost from the start. It was a struggle for me, much more than it should have been and I decided it was the heat and the humidity, I got through the first 2 loops and was getting pretty convinced that going much further was going to be a real challenge and to add to my woes with the heat, my left foot was aching. Knowing that I had Sunday and not wanting to get super dehydrated in the heat or do any additional damage, I ended up quitting after 13 miles figuring I would do 24 to 27 on Sunday.
So today, I decided to go out to Murphy Hanrehan, last time I was out there, it seemed like the grass was high and too many gates were closed so I hoped for better conditions today. I decided to start with the south loop as I knew it was going to get hot fairly quick and it is a lot more exposed than the northern side. I got there around 7:30 am, the horse parking lot was empty, so I proceeded to run the 5+ mile loop, everything seemed good, no major soreness from the 13 miles from Saturday. My left foot seemed ok, a little tender but manageable. On Saturday, it bugged me more than a little. I decided to repeat the loop since the heat was still bearable and I wasn't sure that I wanted to run 20 miles in the northern (hilly) section. The second loop went ok, I grabbed more liquids and headed over into the northern section. My foot was bugging me more so I decided it would be ok if I increased my walking, with all the hills that happens naturally. I meandered around and worked my way through another 12 miles, a pleasant surprise on this section was that a few more gates were open and the grassy areas weren't too bad. Since I was baking a bit more than I would like so I decided to call it a day after 6 hours.
So a little less than 3 weeks out from Superior with no long run greater than 23 miles, a sore left foot, suffice to say, I think my runs next weekend need to go a whole lot better. Otherwise, I wonder if Larry will let me drop down to the marathon?
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