Well, the day began with high hopes for another long run. Think I am finally getting over the intimidation of these 20+ mile runs, and I was doubly psyched this morning for two reasons: this would be the only run of the week without the twenty six pounds strapped on, and; this would be the final long run without my Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM).
I am hopeful the CGM device will prove to be a game changer, because my long runs are frequently plagued with horrendously slow intervals driven by low blood sugar. Bear in mind that I am aware of these moments and don’t allow myself to go down too far, but it seems I always strive towards some faraway landmark before eating another Clif Bar. I will feel extremely tired and consider stopping during these interludes, but inevitably rebound after taking on some calories, so I’m pretty sure these kill my pace.
With the CGM you have to inject the sensor into your body every seven days, and with my business travel it made sense to stage this for Sunday evenings (avoiding the need to accomplish the task while traveling). Irene’s visit last weekend caused me to miss that Sunday to get things off and running. So tomorrow I will enter a new era and look forward to providing useful feedback. There is no doubt that I will kick the tires on the CGM’s ability to withstand massive physical exertion, lol…
But I digress. Both of my calves were tight as I started off at 6:30AM for a 24 mile route, although it was a nuisance and not a death knell for the run. I ran straight through the villages of Carolina Beach and Kure Beach for the first time ever, and despite this being Labor Day Weekend, traffic wasn’t too awful early on a Saturday morning. Later on, however, I was bothered by the masses of cars zipping along and constantly turning into my path!
Best part of the run was when I encountered an ice truck making a delivery to a convenience store in Kure Beach. The truck was partially in the roadway, snugged up against a telephone pole. After eyeballing the gap I decided to try and squeeze through, and was really glad I did, because I received the most refreshing jolt of cold air rushing out of the back of the truck (the guy had the hatch open because he was loading up his dolly)!
The final six miles of the run, unfortunately, were plagued by my left calf muscle. It seemed to have transitioned from “tight” to “painful” and my pace was hampered by a new gremlin. Regardless, it never got so bad that I considered punting --- but after getting back home and sitting for a few minutes it really tightened up and is now swelling. I’ve popped some ibuprofen and am keeping it iced, so we’ll see whether I can try tomorrow’s ten mile run…
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