Running Journal - 2024-10-06 (26.22-Mile Long Run)

Molex company entrance illuminated sharply in red, against a twilight morning sky

Post-sunrise fall sky in closing miles

Time: 1:34-7:43 a.m. (6 hours 9 minutes)
Resting heart rate (wake-up): 55 bpm
Weight (running clothes): 83.46 kg (184.00 lb)
Body Mass Index (BMI; note criticisms of BMI): 24.3 (Overweight = 25–29.9)
Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR): 2,012 cal/day
Distance (running): 42.20 km (26.22 mi)
Cumulative distance (2024; ignores XT days): 1,309.31 km (813.57 mi)
Calories burned: 2,468 kcal
Average heart rate: 127 bpm
Max heart rate: 167 bpm
Weather at start: Clear 🌒 22° C (71.6° F), Humidity 45% Wind: 5 km/h
Terrain: 453 ft elevation gain
Avg Pace: 14'05" /mile
Best pace: 12'57" /mile
Stinkiness air level (0=No smell; 10=☣️): 0/10 (not stinky)
Comments: Wrapping the 36th week of the year with an easy-pace marathon long run. Crossed mileage markers 1,300 km and 800 miles for the calendar year. Heat wave crested over the weekend with projected temperatures reaching 38° C (100.4° F) by 4:00 p.m. on Sunday. With that in mind, took wisdom from American runner and author Dean Karnazes' book "Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner" (2005), and ran my marathon during the night hours; i.e., at the coolest part of the day. Which--on a day reaching such high temperatures--was 22° C (71.6° F) just before sunrise 😛 The downside was the lack of sleep. I put my head on my pillow around 9:00 p.m., but could not fall asleep soundly. Awoke around 12:45 a.m. and decided to just get up and go. No use sleeping until 2:00 a.m. Got dressed. Did 4 things I should always do: 1) Garmin HRM-Pro Plus Heart Rate Monitor; 2) Anti-chafing; 3) NipEaze; and 4) Headband ✅ No sunblock needed on this run. Fed the cats, had some cold brew coffee and a Clif Bar. Reviewed Fellrnr's wiki page suggesting a 11:00/mile run pace for an overall 12:41 training (+2 minutes) pace, with 1:00/1:00 run/walk intervals. Given the slightly elevated temperatures, I gave myself some leeway for running a bit easier pace). Today for the first time on a run I wore my Nathan - QuickStart 2.0 6 L Hydration Pack. The pack has a 1.5 L bladder in the back, and the 6 L moniker seems to mean it has 6 L total storage. On Saturday night I chilled the water bladder in the fridge. In the back zippered storage I put 2 Clif bars and my mask. In the front-left zippered pouch I put my house key and my Skullcandy Sesh Evo earbuds charging case. In the front-right un-zippered pouch I stored the partially-eaten Clif Bar as I ran. One anonymous Redditor suggested pushing the extra hose length into the bladder storage compartment (thank you), which kept it at the right length as I ran. Another Redditor suggested turning the bladder upside-down and sucking the air out (they called it burping it, I think), so I did this as well in an attempt to stop sloshing noises. After breakfast, I re-inserted the bladder into the pack, adjusted the hose, cinched the straps to what seemed like a reasonable length, and headed out to the street. Usually when I start early I can usually see civil twilight, when the sun is nearest the horizon. Starting at 1:30 a.m., this night was moonless and black, but clear with twinkling stars. The earliest twilight--Astronomical twilight, when the sun is between 18° and 12° below the horizon--would not begin until 5:41 a.m. My muscles felt relatively recovered. City streetlamps illuminated the roadway. Traffic was minimal. I knew most of the paved paths well. Started listening to an audiobook and ran. It took a few intervals to adjust to the 1:00/1:00 run/walk pace. It was nice to have plenty of walk breaks. A nagging part of me wanted to run faster, but the experienced part of me remembered it is the feeling at the end that matters (when training at least), not the beginning of a multi-hour run. I felt relief to have so many hours of night "buffer" on a day with high temperatures. The earth had cooled from the high of the previous day to its coolest point around 1:00-2:00 a.m., and would stay that way until sunrise at 7:09 a.m. By 8:00-9:00 a.m., the temperatures would increase rapidly to almost 27° C (80.6° F), a much more punishing heat. So 1:00-2:00 a.m. was about the sweet spot to start. The early miles were mostly devoid of traffic. I passed a homeless person adjusting their camping spot next to a bank by a major intersection. If safe, I ignored stop lights at minor intersections. A few empty vehicle-carrier semis pulled into and out of a side street I had not suspected as leading anywhere. At one such stoplight, I pushed the crosswalk button, then waited a few seconds, then continued as it was safe. There were two vehicles, one in the southbound left-turn lane across from me, the other going straight in the northbound lane to my right. I.e., neither crossing the crosswalk I was using. As the vehicle turning left started their turn, I noticed it was a police vehicle 😛 To my relief, it completed the turn and accelerated rapidly away. The darkness posed some challenges. I ran along the bike lane instead of the sidewalk for railway underpasses. I did trip once (much later) on a raised seam of concrete and thankfully had the soft cushion of grass to fall onto, though I did stub my right toe and lightly scrape my left palm & right forearm. To my embarrassment, that concrete seam was well-illuminated, but I was focused on navigating up the curving accessible path and dodging an adjacent streetlight pole. Ah well, lesson learned--don't miss the seams. The overall run was broken into two parts: 1) 14 miles; and 2) 12.22 miles. Having the Nathan - QuickStart 2.0 6 L Hydration Pack was like having a cheat code--in theory, I felt unrestricted and wondered how far I might run without stopping. On past long runs, I was tied to hydration rest points, which in practice meant convenience stores or home. At most I ran ~5 miles, then hydrated/refueled. Night runs mean many convenience stores are closed. However, with hydration & fuel on my back, I was able to continuously care for myself as I went. The downsides: sloshing noise, added weight, and restriction on cooling the back. My earbuds canceled the noise, the added weight turned out to not be a problem for me, and the cooling was minimized by the nighttime temperatures. The ability to carry the charging case for my Skullcandy Sesh Evo earbuds meant I could alternately quick-charge them when they reported "Battery Low". I continued to store my phone in the SpeedPocket of my Under Armour SpeedPocket 5" shorts, and ID & credit card in its back zippered pocket. Hitting 10-mile mark and getting into double-digits helped mentally, as did getting to the halfway point. Ran past an Amazon warehouse, then through the empty parking lot of a shopping complex. Passed a security guard sitting at an outdoor patio table reading their phone, while their security vehicle was parked nearby--they didn't even bother to look up at me as I went by. Surprisingly (to me), I encountered quite a bit of traffic while I ran through a Walmart parking lot. Walmart allows individual store managers to determine if they want to let people park overnight in their parking lots. Unfortunately--I don't think they saw me--a vehicle began taking a shortcut by threading their way through painted lanes and parked vehicles, heading straight for me. I paused and stepped to my right toward a parked car. I guess they finally saw me, as they changed course to continue wherever they had decided they wanted to go. Such an odd experience to have almost no other human interaction for hours, then have an unintentional human vs. vehicle game of chicken in a Walmart parking lot at 3:00 a.m. 😅 I finished traversing the rest of the parking lot without incident. Noted the contrast of activity of people in their vehicles: engines running, running lights illuminated, etc. This was my first time running this path at night, and the rest of the surrounding area was peaceful: lawn misters, street lights, and not much else. Finished mile 14 around 4:45 a.m., at home. Tried Vöost Hydrate supplement - Black Cherry tablet for the first time. The 16 ounces of hydration was helpful after sipping small amounts of water. Ate a Clif bar. I had used up nearly my entire water supply, so refilled and headed back out. I ran the 2nd 12-mile segment in reverse, alternating the sides of the roads I ran on for a bit different experience. Stuck to streets as non-illuminated trails seemed dangerous. Smelled the chlorinated humidity of a corporate office park waterfall. Around mile 18, the sky was getting detectably brighter. In my mind, I was thinking, ok, just keep ticking down the miles--just 8 more. Traffic was increasing. Passed the Fremont Tesla factory and had to wait at the main entrance stoplight as workers came and went. Ran through the new adjacent housing, passing people walking their dogs. Run, walk. Run, walk. Started alternately charging the earbuds. A driver turning right ignored me entering the crosswalk 🤬 The sky was bright. Sunrise had occurred but the sun had not yet crested the foothills to the east. Disquietingly, on the last mile or so, my right ankle began feeling slightly sharp pains. Possibly due to frequency of run/walk breaks? I had felt a bit sore intermittently the night before in my right Achilles area, but the pricks of sharp pain were not great. They went away as I ran, thankfully (and did not feel them again later). Reached home and ran the last 0.4 miles around a parking lot. The sun was finally visible. Overall, felt sore but OK--mostly sore in my gluts & upper back quads. Toes were OK, other than the stubbed right toe. Showered, then slept a few hours. This was my first marathon since the San Francisco 2024 Marathon on July 28 (~10 weeks ago). It went OK. My shoes now have 311 miles (of 400) used up (78%).
Any irregular feelings, aches, pains, heart rate, and so forth?: Right Achilles/ankle intermittently painful
Foods eaten today: Trader Joe's Pumpkin Spice Cold Brew Coffee from concentrate (8 oz), Clif Bar - Chocolate Chip (x3), Tailwind Nutrition Recovery Drink Mix - Chocolate - 16 oz, Vöost Hydrate supplement - Black Cherry