Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Eventful Sunday

Unfortunately, last Sunday I wasn't able to run the DC Road Runners 10K Bread Run.  I missed the registration!  :-P  That was kind of a stupid mistake on my part.  I just didn't think there was a possibility of them selling out.  They reserved the last 25 spots for race-day registration, but I just didn't feel like going all the way to the race with only a chance at running.  I did, however, register for the Gar Williams Half Marathon, also hosted by DCRR, next Sunday.

Since I missed my 10K last Sunday, I decided to run a 10K on my own on Saturday, and then a 20K on my own on Sunday.  It felt great to finally run a little distance again.  I sort of forgot that it takes me 4-5 miles to get in my groove on a run.  The weather was great both days, and my Sunday 20K turned out to be quite eventful!

As I was running along the Custis Trail in Arlington, VA, about 5 miles into my run, a little girl yelled out the window from the back seat of her parents car, "Yeah, do it!"  She was probably only 6 or 7 years old, and it made my day.  They were just sitting in a church parking lot, either waiting to go in, or waiting for someone to come out, and she looked so genuinely excited that I was running by.  Her enthusiasm matched that of the most passionate marathon supporter I've seen.

The next big event of my day was witnessing a big motor vehicle accident on Lee Hwy.  I was running along, about 6.5 miles in, and heard a blaring horn, which prompted me to look up in time to see an SUV t-bone a BMW sending it slamming into another vehicle heading the opposite direction through the intersection.  The smashed up BMW came coasting straight toward me and stopped about 10 yards short.  I ran out to the vehicle to help out the lady inside.  Her door was smashed shut and all of the airbags in the vehicle had deployed.  Luckily she, and no one else, was really hurt in the accident.  The poor lady was really shaken up after her pinball ride through the intersection.  I asked her if she felt like she had any head or neck injuries, then helped her crawl out the other side of the car and answered the nice OnStar lady's questions for her.  I've never had OnStar in any vehicle I've owned, and it was kind of funny talking to someone through the speakers in the car.  Not that I did anything too helpful, but she seemed to really appreciate another human face to talk to after a traumatic experience like that.

I continued on my run after police and paramedics arrived on the scene.  I was going to run 14 miles, but decided I'd better just turn around and head home.  The rest of the run went great, and I felt better running than I have in a long time.

I'm not exactly looking to PR this weekend at the Gar Williams Half Marathon.  Technically it will be a PR because I've never ran an official race other than a marathon.  I just don't think I've logged adequate mileage and speed work lately to beat my current training PR for 13.1 miles.  I was looking good immediately following MCM, but over Thanksgiving I slacked off a bit.  I plan to go out and run the race, and, at the very least, enjoy my run.

Training Summary for Last Week:

Monday:       Off
Tuesday:       4.15 miles; 36:50; avg. pace 8:52/mi
Wednesday:  4.12 miles; 37:05; avg. pace 9:00/mi
Thursday:      Off
Friday:          Off
Saturday:       6.20 miles; 54:50; avg. pace 8:51/mi
Sunday:         12.44 miles; 2:01:45; avg. pace 9:47/mi

Total Mileage:    26.91 miles
Total Time:        4:10:30
Average Pace:   9:19/mi

Happy Running!

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