It poured all day yesterday. Sarah was sick, so I did the long run on my own. I figure, if I'm going to do be doing 100 milers, I have to thrive (or at least survive!) in any weather. Was going to do 17 miles, but wound up doing around 14. It was hard due to 1) cold, 2) wet ground is less springy, and jumping over puddles (should have jumped into them in retrospect - weee!)
I decided to cut it short because the ligament behind my left knee was feeling a little weird - it twinged when I tried to take bigger steps and work the left hamstring. It felt similar towards the end of a 3 day bike tour. I'll have to play with it. I think the cold may have contributed to its stiffness.
I saw a mini flash flood where a stream about 1 foot wide full of dirt and debris flooded on top of a much smaller, clear stream. That was cool and I got to jump over the incoming stream. So was seeing a male deer with full antlers (or horns?). My first thought was "oh, there is a deer chilling, this means there aren't any bears around... wait, what about all those times there wasn't a deer?" Maybe I've been running for too long at that point.
Technique wise, I was trying to work on having my feet pointed slightly up before landing. Overall, I had a hard time working on technique because I got tired and the ligament. So particularly at the end I reverted to the shuffling step that has worked well for me. It looks and feels somewhat awkward and is, I'm sure, inefficient, but I seem to be able to do it for a while without hurting myself, which is step 1.
So far I've been focusing on technique on shorter runs and largely doing what comfortable on longer runs where it's more important to go the distance and build the endurance. My hope is that with time I can incorporate more and more good technique in my long runs.
Also, looking at my last few long runs, typically they go like this:
5-15 minutes (fresh beginning): everything feels great, muscles are fresh and fast
Next 30-60 minutes (warming up, going through the first wall): short of breath, muscles feel tired and achy - I can almost see the lactic acid flowing through them. This is the time of self doubt and thoughts like "Why do I keep doing this to myself?" and "Maybe I should just slow down and walk." I found that strategic walking actually can help quite a bit. If the beginning of the run is uphill, which many are, taking even a 25 foot walking break, goes a long way to releasing the built up tension and recharging me to go lighter and faster. I think it's this period that made distance running so hateful to me (and, I'm sure, many other people). I think I'm slower to warm up than the average person - we found out from my time in sprints that it can take my body up to 1.5 hours to really get going.
Next ~60 minutes (peak, smooth sailing): body finally warmed up, breathing is easy, legs are churning. It feels good, light, and elating. I can go on like this forever - and that's why I grew to love running.
The last part (slowing down): the peak has typically been limited by my muscle endurance rather than energy. While energy wise I usually feel fine and my breathing is easy and regular, my muscles or ligaments or what have you start aching here and there, which causes me to slow down and lose form.
I suppose the only way to fix that is to keep at it and make them stronger.
Oh, and about two new pieces of gear:
Merino Wool T by Stoic worked out really well. Even though I was soaking wet the whole time, my upper body didn't feel nearly as cold as I did wearing Putin earlier in the week.
Also, Wrightsock no-blister socks worked great too - despite my feet completely soaked for 3 hours straight, no blisters, discomfort or irritations. Compare to the aforementioned earlier run in the rain wearing normal socks where feet didn't get soaked, but I got at least one enormous blister.
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