We Interrupt This Travelogue...

...with some candor about how training is going.

Today's long run was a healthy 21 miles. Yes, all on treadmill in the gym, since it's still too warm for my tastes outside to deal. While I was hoping that I would be able to keep a constant marathon pace, my legs were fatigued enough that I relatively quickly decided to reduce my speed every 3rd mile by about 30 second, before bumping back up again. That lasted through 9 miles. Then I took that reduced speed as the standard and every 3rd mile wound up doing a walking pace. Certainly not what I want or need for my eventual BQ attempt in 3 weeks, but given it is only 1 week since Marathon Pour Tous, I'll take it as a win.

What was actually annoying was post-run "reaction." Mercifully, the hydromassage chair was available, so I went on that for 10 minutes. Then after a brief time in the steam room and a shower, I went to change. By this point, it's about 25 minutes post-run, and *now* is when my lightheadedness kicked in. And was off and on for quite a while, delaying my being able to dress by a wee bit, and then ultimately getting out the front door.

I was always next to a bench or chair, so very quickly would sit down and wait for it to subside before attempting to continue whatever I was doing. When I went upstairs to go on the InBody machine again (having gone on it pre-workout) to finally do a comparison before/after a long run, I wasn't so surprised with the weight loss (8 pounds), but I was surprised to see that half of that was muscle mass. Wow! Not unexpectedly, the rest of it was water, even though I had taken in 36 oz during the run. (Yet again, not only was I a puddle right after the run, but there was a sizable puddle behind my treadmill.) Shame I didn't have my blood pressure monitor with me while I was feeling lightheaded -- it might have been instructive, given how long this "episode" had been lasting. But there's no predicting it. After all, last week during Marathon Pour Tous, I had no hint of lightheadedness at any time. And as evidenced in the photos (which will be up in a few days) I was very much a puddle (but also thoroughly soaked because of water I was dumping over my head at every water stop because of the heat and humidity during the run).

One more long run ahead of me before a relatively short taper. I'm mildly anxious about what temperature it will be in Erie. If it's too warm, my desired BQ-10 will likely be out the window before the race even starts. And regardless of what I do in Erie, I must be mindful to make sure I'm in sufficient condition to be an effective 3:55 pacer (possibly 3:50 if all goes well with recovery) for Air Force less than 2 weeks later.