I did my long walk today, and it nearly killed me! ;) It was tough. I decided to do three loops at the lake. The first two were a standard loop of the lake plus an extra small loop on the spillway that makes the entire circuit 11 miles. So after two loops I was at 22 miles. Then I started my third loop, which was to be a standard loop and a smaller extra loop to get about 10 miles and end up around 32. At the beginning of the third loop I kicked a board on a wooden bridge and almost tripped. It strained my right knee a little bit and I thought about turning around, but the pain wasn't too bad and didn't seem to be aggravated by walking. It's not sore now so I guess the problem wasn't too severe.
I drank a TON today. I filled up my 40 oz. Camelbak with half gatorade/half water. Then I filled it up with 100% gatorade (after loop 1). Then I filled it up with 100% water (after loop 2). Then I stopped at 7-11 and bought another bottle of water to fill it up (halfway through loop 3). That's approximately 160 oz. of fluids! But believe me, I needed it. I only needed to urinate once during the walk, so I guess the rest of it was burned up and went to good use.
I also managed to do the whole walk with only one small sip of gel. I ate a Clif Bar and a couple of Fruit Leathers, and I took Succeed Electrolyte caplets.
By the end I just wanted to sit down. What really sounded good was a Coke with crushed ice; I started mapping a route to Sonic on the way home. This is unusual for me because I only drink Coke/sodas about once per month. But it sounded sooooo good. I just kept reminding myself that I could have a nice, big, cold Coke and some crushed ice to chew. That was my mantra for the last 5 miles, and I managed to drag my tired carcass to the car and drive myself to Sonic to fulfill my promise to myself. I was (and still am) beat and feel a little sore and tired, but nothing I haven't felt before. Now I'm going to clean up the house and do a little laundry, then try to sit down and read a book. I've also got to pack; back to San Antonio tomorrow, but only for 2 1/2 days/2 nights. I'll use the hotel treadmill while I'm there.
And the new shoes were great! The extra support was really needed today, but they are still very light. My only problem with my feet was that I pulled my socks on two hard and they hurt my toes, plus I have one small toe with a sore in the nail area that was uncomfortable. But no permanent damage!
I hope everyone had good training/racing this week.
Distance: 32.30 miles
Time: 6:38:20
Pace: 12:19
