Palouse Empire Strikes Back

May 16, 2009 -

So we are over in Moscow, ID visiting the in-laws this weekend and I had a 20 mile run today. I was a little nervous as to how the 'ol legs would perform after that five hour bike and thirty minute run yesterday. I was also a little excited to be running back in the Palouse where I trained for my first marathon (Chicago) while I was in college (University of Idaho).

I was really nice to be running back here again through the rolling wheat fields on that long, straight and flat path spanning the distance between U of I and Wazzu. It brought back a lot of memories of training for a marathon in college as a means to stay healthy so we could party more. To top it off, it was 65 degrees, sunny, and I had a nice breeze coming at me on the way back....perfect.

Luckily my legs came to the party this morning. The trails of the Palouse Empire were my battlefield and I was the athletic Darth Vader out there vaporizing everything in my way step by step (maybe like Dark Helmet to onlookers). I started on the far side of Moscow on the Troy highway and ran a few miles through town, then the seven miles in between Moscow and Pullman and then back

I had three 8oz bottles on my fuel belt, two with Gatorade and one with water. I also at a PowerGel at the first and second hours and PowerTabs on each half hour. All in all it was a good run, nothing to complain about today. I got back and hydrated and iced my knees for about a half hour. Now I can get on to more important things...like feeding my face.

Day 136 Training Log - So the run today was supposed to be 175 minutes (2:55). My goal was to hit 20 miles. I started off pretty slow as my legs took about four miles to flush out from yesterday. After that, the first two hours went pretty well. I finished the first two at a 8:30 pace. Then the last hour I started to slow down a little bit with those last six miles at a 9:00 minute pace. At two hours and thirty minutes I was starting to get pretty much cooked and the last two miles were a battle. I did finish strong however hitting 20 miles at 2:54 for a pace of 8:40. Between yesterday and today I can kind of start to see what my Ironman times will probably look like, which I actually do not care too much about as finish is the only goal.