Another 9 Miler Done!

Today we did another 9 mile run.  It was the same route along the waterfront that we ran last Friday, but we did it in the opposite direction. 

The tide was very low as we started out and it was quite breezy... I could smell the salt in the air as I ran and thoroughly enjoyed the sunshine on my face. It was such a beautiful day and I love all the Spring flowers that are in bloom right now... my favorite garden season is Spring.

We drove over to the beach after my Weight Watcher's meeting this morning. I wanted to get my April weigh-in out of the way today, so I ate my breakfast during the meeting, after I weighed.  I also drank a cup of water with half a nuun tablet dissolved in it.  I could hardly choke it down... grape, I think, which has never been my favorite flavor of anything... gum, soda, juice, popsicles and so on.  But The Captain likes it and I had already given him half before we left the house.

So, after the meeting, we drove to the beach and parked in the same place as we did on Friday last week when we ran this same route.  We parked at about the 4.5 mile point so it was an out-and-back to and from the car... first North, and on the return getting a fresh water/nuun bottle at the car before carrying on and running the South out-and-back.  The South portion has more hills so I decided that we should do it first today, to get it over with. 

It was a sunny and blue-sky morning, but the breeze was cool coming off the water where we were exposed to it, so I wore a long-sleeved Running Divas shirt (ya know that aqua-blue one I really love!) with a light hoodie over it, and some capri-length tights.

We headed South and I was quite surprised at how many people were out and about along the beachfront this morning.  And dogs, which always makes me happy. We drank one bottle of water with nuun before we arrived back at the car... I ditched my jacket, switched water/nuun  bottles, checked my watch, and off we went again.  We shaved 2 minutes off last Friday's time on that South  portion and I was pretty pleased with that as I didn't feel like I was working very hard at all.

We both opened some gels and I immediately got Chocolate #9 slopped on the front of my beautiful blue shirt.  Yikes!  I choked a bit on the sweetness of that gel but I do love it so much and managed to finish it and keep running at the same time... The Captain dug a tissue out of my water belt pocket for me to wipe my chocolatey fingers and then he carried the garbage along till we ran past a refuse container so he could dispose of it.

What a guy!  We never stopped running, and he never got a bit on his hands.  How does he stay so clean when I can get messy from just looking at something gooey or sticky?

Anyway, I knew I was running a bit slower than last time, but I didn't want to focus on time or pace today - just enjoy myself and the day, and get the miles done.  I didn't even look at my watch at the turn around point, and didn't look at it again at all till we arrived back at the car.  This North section took 4 minutes longer than it had the last time we ran it.  So overall, the run took 2 minutes longer.

But in all honesty, it felt quite a bit harder today.  Is that because I had 2 speedy runs earlier this week?  Or because I upped the mileage on my Monday and Wednesday runs this week by a mile each?  Not sure but I was pretty relieved to have it done today!

We walked a bit, then stretched while we drank some water and then we drove up the street a very short way to a marina lot where we parked and gobbled down the bagels with peanut butter, and the bananas that I had packed along, while we watched some sailboats and talked about the run.

When we got back to the house, I immediately washed the Chocolate #9 off my beautiful blue shirt (and it came of easily...now I love it even more!  We both stretched a bit more and drank some more water and then I soaked in a tub full of hot water with epsom salts until my legs felt like jelly.  I love hot baths and my feet and toes were so happy to be soaking in hot water.

The Captain wanted to go out and mow the lawn before his shower, but I insisted he take the rest of the day off and do it tomorrow.  No point over-doing, right?

Now I am pretty excited for next weekend's long run...  It is going to be 10 miles and I think I will look for a new route.

How do you recover from an intense activity?

Any special snacks to recommend?