Arose a little after 5AM and shot up with insulin – just Lantus to continue the experimental dosage – followed by a breakfast consisting of a whole banana, carton of sugar-free yogurt and pack of peanut butter crackers (the usual breakfast would exclude half of that banana and the crackers, but obviously stoking the furnace for forthcoming calorie demands). Preparation continued with application of baby powder to the feet, Vaseline to several strategic areas that would get rubbed raw otherwise and sun block to the face and neck.
Beyond actual time on the road, these runs chew away at the clock just from all the requirements before taking off. I had started preparation the evening before, filling one of my water bottles with G2 and spiking the other with a Nuun tablet to provide resources for replenishing salts and other stuff I would sweat away during the run. Also filled up my hydro pack (just water), although that attempt at simplifying today’s take-off would come back to bite me.
Out the door around 6AM, the sun was just climbing up and it was delightfully cool outside, ideal weather for launching the long run. I started off at a slow trudge, recognizing that I would be out there awhile. I’ve been a bit disappointed with how slowly these Saturday runs have progressed, but it recently dawned on me that I am clearly not benefitting from the “wind down” which preceded running the marathon last March. Rather than approaching these monsters on a full tank, I’ve just slugged out a twelve and an eight mile run right before this…and I need to appreciate that this is “training” rather than game day.
A quarter mile down the pike I suddenly realized I forgot to strap my hydro-pack on and did an immediate u-turn. Sheesh, despite getting the sucker ready I forgot all about it as I was arming myself with Hammer Gels, Clif Bars, the water belt, camera, baby powder, Vaseline, sunblock, etc., etc., etc…
No biggie though, another benefit from the mindset of getting 26 miles in without dwelling upon how fast.
I didn’t switch on the iPod until after I had gone about three miles, just to collect my thoughts and make sure I didn’t need to have background noise all the time. May have caused my pace to pick up, because I really attempt to build quality playlists. It’s a rather eclectic mix, but in the first batch “Roam” by the B-52’s was a bit too infectious to run slow:
Roam if you want to
Roam around the world
Without wings, without wheels
The Red Lighthouse, a bit over three miles from home
Continued along Carolina Beach Road until I reached the Red Lighthouse development, marked by a unique little beacon that made me stop for the first photo shoot. I’ve been training for a year now and witnessing this landmark made me respect how far I’ve come. I’ve expressed that there is value in challenging yourself, but the red lighthouse made me expand that comment to stress patience. I first reached this lighthouse last June and was enthused by my progress, as expressed in the Taking It In Stride entry.
The significance was that I was anticipating the day I would reach Snow’s Cut Bridge, still a mile away. Today I would be running over that bridge and then another eight miles before turning around! You’ve come a long way, baby…
So right after that I was atop Snow’s Cut Bridge and for the first time armed to capture its splendor on a Saturday morning:
Climbing to the top of Snow’s Cut along the narrow pedestrian sidewalk, early Saturday morning (usually much more traffic)
Shoreline on Carolina Beach side, all downhill from here
After the bridge I run about five miles along Dow Road, which cuts behind the beach communities and is quite rural (I’ve startled three deer during my morning runs). Even though the speed limit is 55MPH and folks zip along, there isn’t much traffic and broad shoulders. There are practically no structures the entire way and I run through sand and weeds most of the time.
Then my route hooks back towards the Atlantic Ocean and into Kure Beach, where I hang a right towards Fort Fisher and the southern end of Pleasure Island.
Pillars marking beginning of Fort Fisher – back to buildings but I can follow the bike path
Only a couple miles until you exit the community area and it is back to nature. The only things remaining are beaches, the Fort Fisher Historic Site, the Aquarium (where I will turn around today), the ferry and boat ramps. It is beautiful here!
Fort Fisher with its delightful wind tilted trees
I hooked left onto Loggerhead Road to reach the Aquarium and was soon on the rebound back to Monkey Junction (name of neighborhood I live in)…just thirteen more miles to go now!
NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher
My pace has begun to slack off due to the combined effects of exertion and escalating temperatures, but stay with me because we are still on the move. In fact, let’s swing by the beach and enjoy some ocean views…just because we can:
Looking back on the beach, already getting filled up at 8:30AM!
There are pleasing views in both directions:
Looking forward to watch the waves break
But all too soon it is back to pounding the pavement through Fort Fisher and Kure Beach to Dow Road. Weariness begins to set in as I plod back towards the bridge and I finally capitulate and walk during my second Clif Bar after cracking mile nineteen. I suck my Nuun water bottle dry during the brisk stroll and have hit my hydro pack hard (my throat is so dry it requires big water hits to get the Clif Bar down).
Still have the G2 bottle, but I decide to drop in on the Carolina Beach Food Lion to score another bottle of water. I have my twenty dollars along, so I pause my Garmin Sports Watch and head indoors around mile twenty. I had just finished my Clif Bar and assure you I wasn’t low (more on this later but I didn’t consume any more calories until after getting back home), but the effort must have taken a toll. I was at the self-checkout register but the two dudes ahead of me were having serious difficulties and after standing around for a minute and not noting any progress with completing their transaction I migrate to the Express Line, but not before discovering I’ve lost my $20!
I literally walk around the areas I have been standing at since I plucked the bill out for over a minute before realizing I am holding it my other hand. Heaven help me when I have to do this for fifty miles…
To perform penance after this silly fiasco I clutch the water bottle and refuse to savor it until I run complete mile twenty-two, returning to walking mode while downing the cool liquid. As weary as I am, awareness that the end is near and deliberately running at a slow pace brings me back home once I kick back into running mode. Total miles logged were 26.1 --- and as a closing “footnote” (ha-ha) to reinforce how tired I was --- I didn’t bother sweating out that last stinking tenth of a mile to lay claim to completing a marathon this morning!
Those last few miles I didn’t bother switching my iPod back on because I had already received three French lessons and between mental grogginess and noise from the traffic on Carolina Beach, now that it was later in the morning, I didn’t have the heart to endure another (I stage my playlist as a series of seven songs followed by a French lesson).
Follow up on the Lantus (and why I knew I wasn’t low at the Food Lion) is that a blood test after the run revealed a blood sugar of 107, pretty awesome. J
Hope you enjoyed running along with me à I am blessed with beautiful country to plot courses and there's just one more sixty mile week before the Finger Lakes Fifty!
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