23 Mile Run, Butterfly Pacer and Kid Wrecking Himself by Hitting Me

Left. Right. Left. Right. You know, running. For 23 miles.

Two cool things from this run.

First, a kid wrecked himself by running his bike into the back of me. I felt a small thump and looked back to see a three bike pile-up. I walked back to check on them and they were all ok. Apparently the high schooler who hit me wasn't riding with brakes. Which is smart. No harm, no foul. And certainly interesting.

Second, I ran with a butterfly for a half mile. I saw it at mile .25 and it was with me through the bridge at mile .75 of the comet. It just floated along randomly... sometimes ahead of me, sometimes behind. He probably covered a mile or more in that time given his random path. He was a big yellow and black sucker. Kinda neat.

I suppose a third cool thing happened: I didn't abandon the run.

Ooh, and a fourth thing: explosive duke out appeared with perfect timing 50 yards before bathroom at mile 11.5. After that I absconded with a small cache of 2-ply insurance.

I knew Kindzia was doing a 21 miler this morning. My 23 miles wasn't one-upsmanship... it was just the result of the comet's topography. Park at mile 4. Run west and the first water is at mile 11.5. Turn around for more water again at mile 4. Head east to mile 0 before turning around to head back to mile 4 (and run with a butterfly.)

I'm sure Kindzia'll post his splits. Mine were pretty slow and I know he's a lot faster than me. I held the heart rate low and did 10+ min miles for the first 1/3 or so. Then some cruising at 9:30's. Then some 8:30's near the end. Despite the warming temps (about 83 by the end of the run) I felt good, didn't feel much cramping or pain. Final time of 3:37. It seems that this is about ten minutes off of last year's times for the same run... I'll have to check.

My speeds matched my music. Audiobook for first third kept me slow by making me analytical and shutting down my emotional brain. Then The Weepies for the second third to get some melody and emotion going. And finally Rob Zombie to overcome any little pains that arose and pick up the pace a bit.

Not really a traumatic run. I guess I'm getting better about the little things... hydration, nutrition, sleep, salt, pacing, etc. It must be second nature because I spend almost no time thinking about the workout task at hand. (I know... famous last words... next time I'll esssssploooode in grand style.)

Glad to finally have a decent lsd run under my belt (amongst other things.)