2 laps of the island BITCHEEES
My long run today was 12 miles, and I was excited to do two full laps of Belle Isle (and then some) this morning. Two laps of the island makes 11 miles, and then I mapped out an extra 1.4 to get over 12. The weather when I left my house was 50 degrees, calm, and sunny. THIS is the weather I've been waiting for. I did a t-shirt and knee-length pants, and even remembered to apply sunscreen. I nearly grabbed my bike glasses, and I kind of wish I had. It was bright out there!
A few things I witnessed today: A woman wearing a 2010 Detroit 1/2 Marathon long-sleeve technical shirt - backwards. The big interstate shield with 13.1 in it that goes on the back was on her front. Okay. This reminds me, I wore my Corktown Run shirt today and I have decided that not-breathable large screen printed decals on the front or back of a technical shirt kind of defeats the purpose of a technical shirt. I felt like I was wearing a giant sticker on my chest by the end.
I also saw some baby geese. The canadian goose is probably one of my least favorite birds, but like any animal, their babies are adorable, and if I'd been speaking, probably would've caused my voice to go up a few octaves. Like when Kilo was a baby. Or when I even see pictures of him from when he was a baby. It was like running past the wilderness equivalent of this:
That was a nice distraction. Also present, a guy with an electronic keyboard playing something while facing the lake/pond/water feature in front of the Scott Fountain. He didn't have it up very loud, so even when I ran right behind him with my headphones out of my ears, I couldn't really tell what he was playing.
The run itself was a little uneven. I started out too fast, out of excitement/over-caffeination. I broke down and took an excedrin on the drive out since my morning headache seemed to be legitimately hanging around. My splits for the two laps were slightly negative: 1:06:02 and 1:05:22, although I felt like I was working a lot harder in the second half. Heart rate data was 155/171 and 159/180 for the two laps respectively, so I guess it showed. Overall, I ended up with 11.9 miles. I took off on that last add on and I just couldn't bring myself to go further than I was required to so I guessed at what would be a mile and went that way (I wasn't too far off). Overall, the whole thing took me 2:21, which works out to 11:52/mile.
I had a couple of tracks that I've recently added to my list that I just really enjoyed. Blow, by Ke$ha, my latest pop obsession. And this Deadmau5 track that has been on playlists before. Every time I hear this it just makes me so HAPPY. Please, enjoy.
Click to view