Saturday!

Fri: 4ish miles with the dog.

Today, Saturday, I bailed out of running with a friend. My foot is still a bit iffy and I wasn't quite up to doing 35k at any pace, much less faster than what I'm used to these days. Assuming I could run at all.

So I puttered around a bit at home, drank some juice, and then dug out the water bottle belt. I put an orange burst gel in the belt pocket...orange is a totally rad gel flavour for me, but it was a freebie and this was to be a very easy run/walk. Minimal intestinal jostling.

I told the dog that we'd be out for a while. Look, I was even bringing water. It's been a while since I've done that.

We headed out to the Canal and I just did whatever, roughly 1/2 to 1 mile jog, then walk for umpteen minutes. We got to the Arboreteum in about an hour (we were moving pretty slowly!) and I took one look at the sledding hill and figured that I should do hills. The ultra is pretty much all hills and I've been entertaining a myriad of excuses for postponing hill training, but this one was seductively clad in near-green lawn and the golden gleam of sunlight. I had no picnic; all I could do was exercise. Walked briskly up the steep part and jogged down a softer slope, and did this for about a mile. Then we walked/jogged around some more on the dirt, and did a few more hill loops on a longer but less steep hill, and then it was time to head home.

Time for the gel. The dog and I drank some water, and then I was taken back to childhood memories with orange creamsicles (my favourite ice treat for a while). The flavour was probably not one that I could handle during a marathon, but for a jaunt, it was fine. I let the dog finish it. He's less fussy than I am.

Going home, I alternated 1/2 mile of walking with 1/2 mile of running, and though switching gears was sort of tough considering my legs were still a bit raw from hillwork, it got easier. and it was a surprisingly easy run in some ways. I still felt pretty fresh. The intervals went by quickly. I was in a zone. I feel like this is the first time I've really understood what the ultra is going to be like, in terms of the amount of walking I can do and how relaxed I can be. Plus, we were running on some of the little paths in the wildlife garden and that reminded me that I was going to be running in a forest, on similar terrain....it was going to be an adventure. Not a race. I've paid a fee so that I can just traipse through a park for half a day and have food waiting for me at convenient intervals. There is no excuse for rushing.

I've known this theoretically, but today was the first time that I was able to feel just how easy the effort is supposed to be.

14.15 miles in 3:19....lol....but that's race pace for over 1/4th of my ultra. Actually a little faster than race pace. I have to go about 15:30/mile to make the cut off.

So, I'm feeling pretty good about it after all. I should do another long run/walk tomorrow; if I get only one back-to-back in, that would be fine, but I'd feel odd not doing one at least. At any rate, although I'm not sure if I'm over my slump/foot issue, I feel like I'm getting over it, at any rate, and actually see myself doing the ultra after all. In a strange sort of way, too, I think that the foot issue is actually fortuitous: without it, I would have never managed to slow down enough to get a grasp of the real pace/attitude required.

My foot seems a lot better.