Today was a tricky one, here. After my late wake-up (thanks, Daylight Savings Time), when I finally got outside it was 36 degrees. A little brisk, but mercifully there was no wind, and I knew how warm (for running) it was going to get by the end of my 19-mile run: about 50 degrees.
When the weather is going to be solely in the 30s or low 40s (as it had been for several weekends), wearing two (or even three) layers of shirts (including at least one that is long sleeves), gloves (with hand warmers activated inside them), and wrap-around earmuffs makes total sense and has worked well for me. But what to do when the temp is going to get to a point where I would normally be wearing just shorts and a singlet?
So, I changed things up slightly: Shorts, only two shirts (one short-sleeved and the imafmously hideous-image 2018 MCM shirt), gloves (but without the hand warmers), and my Marathon Maniacs hat (no earmuffs).
It was a great choice for most of the run. And my nutrition was per normal (swigging water each mile and having 1 Shot Blok every approximately 1 mile). But by the time I got to Mile 15, I felt a sharp pinpoint pain in my right calf. What was it? Sprain? No. Muscle pull? No, I don't think so. Cramp? Didn't seem like it, but possible. I didn't have an abundace of salt yesterday, and had very little before the run (or inherent in the Shot Bloks). Possible that had something to do with it.
But it's also possible that the outfit wound up being too much by that point and I started to overheat -- affecting everything else. Probably would have been a good call to take off the MC shirt and tie it around my waist -- help me cool off a bit, since I wasn't splashing water over my head. Shortly after Mile 18, my Garmin screamed at me because my HR was apparently 150. And it screamed a few more times before I finished Mile 19, apparently peaking at just about 200. While I'm not sure it was quite accurate, I was definitely at the point of nearly hitting the Wall. Very happy that all I had slated for today was 19 miles.
Biggest takeaway that I implemented real-time, though, is actually not obvious from the above:
Don't be so wedded to the pace that you cause yourself injury.
I was supposed to shift from 7:45/mile pace to 7:20/mile pace for Miles 16-18. (And, as you can see, I had already been going out too fast compared to desired pace for many of my miles.) But once that twinge happened, I decided to keep my current pace (and slow down if needed) to try to figure out what was going on, and if I really could/should keep running or just end the run and walk the rest of the way back. While it took two miles for the twinge to dissipate, I chose not to pick the pace up to the plan. Goal #1 for all races or training run is to finish without injury. Everything else is ancillary. Mission accomplished, and I didn't really lose much time compared to the original plan.
Hopefully there is enough time left over the next few weekends to expirement sufficiently to be well-prepared for how to adjust on race day in DC. And even mores for Boston just over 3 weeks later -- where their weather is perpetually chaotic in April.
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