Last week’s long run was a disaster.
That’s 4:18:54 for 22 miles…
Since I was only 5 weeks out from the Blue Springs Marathon, I wanted to get in the longest run I’d be doing while preparing for my marathon. I decided to shoot for 22ish miles, depending on how I felt and how far my route (that I basically made up on the fly) ended up being. Because Lord knows if I made it back to the car at mile 21, there was no chance I’d end up making it to 21.1, let alone 22.
This past weekend, the Lakeland Runner’s Club put on their annual Aching Quad race series.
The Aching Quad is a 4 race series, with all 4 races taking place within a 24 hour period. The first race, a 5k, took place Friday evening. Then on Saturday morning, we ran a quick 1 miler at 7am, followed by a 2 miler an hour and a half later. We took the hot part of the day off, and then reconvened for the final 5k on Saturday evening.
For some of you, that may not sound all that daunting. If you run these races hard, especially the two races on Saturday morning, you’d be surprised how difficult this series actually is. I don’t think I underestimated the cumulative effect of 4 races in 24 hours, but the Aching Quad series is no joke. Believe me.
The 2013 Watermelon Series is officially in the books.
And let me just say that I’m glad to be part of the Lakeland Runners Club, as our organization does an absolutely incredible job of putting this race series on every year. Hats off to all of the organizers and volunteers who skipped out on running these races to allow those of us that did run to have a great time! Thanks yall!
The Summer Sunrise Watermelon Series consists of 4 5k races that are held 3-4 weeks apart with the finishing times of each race added together to determine overall and age group finisher times. If you don’t run all 4 races, you aren’t eligible for any of the series prizes, which is a cool dynamic. Read more