A Little Revelry

After my perfect day of training and shopping yesterday, I stopped at my local bar to say hi to friends and have a couple drinks. What was meant to be a quick visit turned into a few hours, then my friends invited me to go to a bar in Brooklyn. Between my training over the summer and my accident, I haven't seen my friends much recently so I decided to go. It was 10:30 and I was thinking I would leave at midnight so I could get up for my race.

But as all fun nights go, time went by, many drinks were had and I ended up being out until 2 a.m. I had started with beer at the local bar and switched to my favorite - Maker's Mark on the rocks - at the second bar. There was also a mystery shot involved. We had such a great time. The cab dropped us off back at our local and I resisted the urge to join them there for a last drink or two. I still hoped I might be able to get up for the race and my long run. But I was not quite ready for bed and ended up taking a long walk home and staying up until 4:30 a.m. I set my alarm for noon and let go of thoughts of the race.

It took a couple hours to get hydrated and ready for my long run. I was kind of dreading it, not knowing how it would go given my night. But I headed out at 3:00 and ran north along the river. It was a little hot outside, about 78 degrees, but still a beautiful day. The miles were going by fairly quickly and I felt surprisingly good. I cut across 88th Street and hit Central Park around the 5.5 mile mark. This was where my troubles began. I had sharp knee and hip pain, which can only mean my ITB is inflamed. I finally had to stop and stretch since every step was excruciating. After I got to the bridle path and started running on dirt, it got a little better. I alternated the bridle path with the reservoir to keep from boring myself to death. My pace was pretty consistent, although I had some pretty slow miles during the knee pain episode.

I finished strong and didn't feel nearly as bad as expected. I walked to Starbucks and got a chocolate milk and water, then went back to the park to stretch. It was 6:00 by the time I left and everyone was at the local bar so I decided to stop by. We all usually meet up there on Sunday afternoons and I hated to miss it. Some of the girls I went out with last night were there as well so we traded hangover stories. Apparently everyone was feeling it. I had one beer, a lot of water and then went home for my first ice bath of the season. I only had 10 pounds so it melted fairly quickly, but it felt great. This will be a weekly ritual now until the race.

I feel slightly bad about missing the Fifth Avenue Mile, but the trade off was worth it. Once I start Ironman training I won't get to stay out late on a Saturday night for a very long time. I made the right choice.

Running
Distance - 15 miles
Time - 2:14:07