I Hate Running

I rearranged my weekend to get my long run (18 miles) in today because today's weather is gorgeous and tomorrow it's supposed to be cold and windy. I had to promise Sarah that I'd be home in time to make her bun and help her with her makeup before ballet so that meant I was going to run 15 outside and finish up the final 3 on the treadmill with American Idol.
When I set out, I was wearing a tights, a long sleeve shirt, a lightweight vest, and a running hat with a bill because rain was predicted. I ran around the loop and realized the wind was pretty bitter, even though the air was warm, so I swung by the house and changed into my NYCM jacket and picked up my sunglasses. One more wardrobe malfunction at the .5 mile mark involving my heartrate monitor and I was on my way. I listened to the soundtrack from Spirit of the Marathon for the first 5 miles. At 5 I ate a gel then had to stop at a friends to use the bathroom. We ended up chatting and I realized that I forgot to stop my Garmin, so I think that little visit ate up about 5 minutes.

I ran another loop of the neighborhood and realized that the wind had really picked up. Also, the hills were getting to me big time. By the time I got home, it was only 14 miles and almost 2:50 minutes. Whoa! Was it the wind? Was it the hills? Was it the Pfitz program? I have had so many sucky runs that are weather related that I have no way of really knowing why they suck. I checked weather.com and it indicated 19 mph winds with gusts of 34 mph. How much of an impact can that kind of wind have on the overall impact of the run?

I made it home in time to find my daughter, very distraught that I was late, thinking that I had forgotten about her bun. I quickly made the bun, did the makeup, changed my clothes and went downstairs to the treadmill. 0% grade (hey, I was hurting already), I started at 10:00 m/m, moved down to 10:54, then 12:30, then I was walking. After a mile and a half I had to call it quits. I barely made it home for the 14 -- who was I kidding that I could do 3 more on the treadmill?

Next week, I think I'm going to eliminate at least one recovery run. I honestly don't think they have anything to do with recovery -- they are just more miles and I am fatigued from so many long runs.