{"id":6694,"date":"2017-02-13T16:01:56","date_gmt":"2017-02-13T22:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/?p=6694"},"modified":"2017-02-13T16:01:56","modified_gmt":"2017-02-13T22:01:56","slug":"the-only-appropriate-time-to-duckface","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/2017\/02\/13\/the-only-appropriate-time-to-duckface\/","title":{"rendered":"The only appropriate time to duckface…"},"content":{"rendered":"

The last two Saturdays have been cold and windy and\/or rainy.\u00a0 Perfect weather for running.\u00a0 I had long bikes on the plan, and HTFU’d through them.\u00a0 This Saturday was 80 degrees and sunny.\u00a0 Perfect weather for biking.\u00a0 I had 15-20 miles of running on the plan.\u00a0 Sigh….<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

You know it’s hot when you’re laying on the tile to cool off.\u00a0 In February.<\/em><\/p>\n

This training cycle, my mantra has been HANDLE YOUR SHIT.\u00a0 It might have different connotations to different people, but what it means to me is problem solving.\u00a0 I am not going to win this race, that’s for certain, unless an asteroid hits at least the top half of my age group and somehow leaves me unscathed.\u00a0 However, I will finish strong if I am constantly problem solving along the way, even if it takes a few seconds longer than just trying to ignore whatever is wrong for 14-17 hours.<\/p>\n

So, when I was overheating in the 80+ degrees and humid conditions around mile 11, I did some things.<\/p>\n

First, I stopped chasing Zliten who thrives in this weather (if it were last weekend in the cold *I* might be dragging HIM).\u00a0 I let him go.\u00a0 I only slowed 10-15 seconds average per mile in the second half but it made all the difference.<\/p>\n

Second, I took some time and laid on the tile floor to cool down between bottle fills and stopped for just a moment every so often in the shade to catch my breath in the later miles.<\/p>\n

I know if it were a race situation I’d spend less time effing around (there would also be aid stations with ice…), but even with my total elapsed time (with ALL the breaks), I’d have put down a slightly over 6 hour marathon.\u00a0 I’m hoping to do a little better than that if I can, but that would still put me across the line in plenty of time.<\/p>\n

My goal was 15-20 miles, and I was able to talk myself into 18.\u00a0 I could tell I was badly adjusting my gait by then for various reasons, and I didn’t want to push through 2 more and risk not be able to train for a while.\u00a0 Considering my longest run this cycle so far was 13.1, I’m totally happy with it.<\/p>\n

All in all, this week’s training was rough to get through, but I completed everything as assigned and topped out at 14 hours this week, even without a long ride.<\/p>\n