ran from tuesday to wednesday

last night and early this morning i participated in a bit of an adventure run. tuesday i did an easy four mile run in my new nike free everyday 2 shoes. they reportedly require a transition period because their design reportedly helps simulate bare foot running (thus muscles not employed in running in other shoes are now recruited into the fray).

tuesday evening my bud scott and i got together to watch the "ultramarathon man" dvd. upon finishing it, i was ready to run. instead of setting the alarm for early, i opted to do a night run. i did not have a set distance in mind, but i was craving something longish. i set up an ad hoc aid station in my driveway and laid out extra water bottles and a couple sandwiches to be prepared for the possibility of the distance snowballing on me.

i set out for a neighborhood loop to the west of my house. i brought the tunes along for this one. i very much enjoyed the quietness of the streets at that hour of the day. i had two gels packs with me and some thermolyte electrolyte tablets. i was hitting the thermolytes at a rate of about 2 every 45 minutes. i hit the first gel after 30 minutes and finished my two fuelbelt waters in about 45 minutes. i cut the first loop short so i could switch out my water bottles.

i ran through my aid station and switched water bottles on the move. i am working on building my capacity to run without walk segments. i intend to marathon in the future without walk segments and i am wanting to prepare myself for that. i think my 19 miler this past sunday was my longest without a walk segment (during the second advent of my running life - during the first i did a 22 miler). after the aid station i set out for a loop to the east of my house. i was having fun and staying in my "forever gear", which appears at this point to be around 9:15 per mile. i hit my second gel at around the one hour point.

i came back to my aid station. threw off my fuel belt and picked up a sandwich and a hand-held water bottle. at this point i could tell i would likely only do one more loop for the night. i consumed the sandwich and it went down well. during this last loop i was very wet in sweat and it even felt like my shoes had puddles in them. i was enjoying running without a shirt, another first since coming back to running. i picked up the pace for the last couple of miles. a very enjoyable 16 miles. 2 hours and 27 minutes.

i enjoyed the new shoes. the legs are a little sore today, and i do have a couple blisters on the bottom of my feet (that might be part of adjusting).

very enjoyable adventure.