Windy Twenty Miler

It has been a while since I have run on a Saturday. This will be a challenge, since I ran 18 6 days ago on Sunday, and I had back-to-back tempo and speed work Tuesday and Wednesday. With 20 miles, at an 8:45 pace, this will be a “3 blocks of ice” day. I usually freeze 2 plastic bottles of ice during the week – empty gallons of milk or 2-liter bottles of pop. My caring wife was nice enough to freeze 2 for me, and I added one myself. I think it helps my recovery, and injury prevention.
The weather took a turn for the warmer this week. It was 5 degrees on Tuesday and Wednesday morning. It got above freezing Friday, and they are talking about 40-50 degrees today -BUT possible rain showers and 20-25 mile winds. I figure bI have done the snow and subzero and ice, so I might as well take the rain and snow, too.
Another detriment is that Scott will be running 13 at an 8:30 or 8:15 pace, plus he likes to run on Sunday. And, I found out Friday that Alan has been sick, and he is going to wait it out until Sunday. I feel bad, because he could not run on Sunday the last few weeks, but I already made a commitment to put water out for the Park Forest Running club. They are trying to stake out a longer route, since the trail is still iced over, so I feel kind of obligated to be around to shepherd some of the group through the area.
Well, it does not look like rain this morning, but it is windy. My thermometer says 45-47, and they are predicting it going up to 56, which it will get lose to in the 3 hours I will be running. With no rain, I am going without tights. After I drop the Gatorade, water and cups a couple of miles out on the route, I head to the Old Plank Trail parking lot. My car is the only one here. It is already 7 am, so I will barely have time for 3 miles. I get my gear together, and head out for a warmup run. The streets are clear, and I quickly warm up. I wore windpants for the warmup run, and I will not miss them when I get back to the car. I stay pretty near my target pace, and I see 2.8 miles at about 21 minutes. I figure I can loop north of the parking lot, and come back. But then I see a clock tower that says it is already just after 8 am. The running club will be gathering, and I want to let them know about the water, and icy patch on the route, and I have some fundraising coupons for a friend of ours, Michelle, who is fighting breast cancer.
I run a few miles, and loop back, and see the Park Forest Running club. I head out with a group that is going to run the streets. One of the runners in this group is a wildlife biologist who goes by the nickname “Frogger”. I’m not sure if it’s because of his work or his spring legs. He’s a few age groups ahead of me, but just a few minutes behind in marathon time. He qualified for Boston at a pretty hot Chicago Marathon in October 2008. Since then, he has run 3-4 others, in pretty good time.
After about 5 miles, I have slow down my pace to keep this up for 20 miles. I fall back, and run a few sidestreets with hills. I go past my son’s high school, and reluctantly wait to a stop light to cross a major street. I’m not familiar with this neighborhood, but when I get across, I’m rewarded with winding, hilly streets with min-mansions on wooded lots. I am able to get about 6 miles added to my run in this new territory, so that is a nice distraction, since I’m on my own. As I head west, it is even windier, so I divert north to get out of the wind. Unfortunately, that takes me on one of the biggest hills in this area, Ironwood Drive in Frankfort. To prepare myself, I ditch my waterbelt and jacket and gloves. My friend Bill trained on these hills before he ran Boston, so I bear down, and try to keep my pace. I get through that, and head south, where I refill on fluids at the water and Gatorade I left out for the club. It’s hard to judge the distance on a new route, and when I get back to the lot where I parked, I am bout 2-3 miles short. I run further east, knowing I’ll be heading into the wind for the end. On a whim, I veer off this busy street to run by my friend Scott’s house. I estimate that I should turn around at the end of his block. I see a couple of women running really slow. They are talking pleasantly, and I say hi. A few hundred yards past them, I turn around. It doesn’t take me long to pass them, and when I do, one calls out “Just go ahead and pass me without saying Hi!”. I turn around, and it’s Megan, my running partner from last year’s Boston Qualifying training. She has some Boston gear on from when she ran the race last year, with the logo on the front, so I replied, “Your Boston logo was too small to see”, and besides, I usually don’t pass you, at least not at the end of a 20 mile run.”. She is running with her cousin, helping her train for the Palos Half Marathon in May. I finish up with them, and catch up with what’s going on with Megan. The pace is slow, even for the end of a long run, but the company is definitely welcome.