Mt. Bonnell
This was a bit of a test for me to make sure that I hadn’t lost too much endurance while I’ve been focussing on my speedwork. I parked down by Deep Eddy and stretched for a while, getting nice and limber. My plan was to meet up with Jen and Frank about two miles into their run (they were coming from RunTex), but I missed them by a couple of minutes - they must have taken the alternate path up to Lake Austin Blvd - so I ended up running alone. Which is fine, it was an absolutely gorgeous day for a run. Warm, but not horrifically so, and not too humid for once (for Texas).
Anyway, I ran out along LAB to the boat docks, then hugged the lake up Scenic to Pecos, over to 35th, and then up to the peak of Mt. Bonnell. The last stretch includes some impressive uphills, and it was a good test of my new hill running form refinements; my HR got up to about 180 on the steepest part, but dropped back down to about 140 at the end of my walk break (I’d waited until the hills were over to rest). I was using my water bottle holder for the first time this year and made sure to drink plenty of fluids along the course, taking a minute every couple of miles to walk and drink.
Got to the top and ran up the steps to the park, stadium style. Well, I got up about halfway, then walked the rest. Looked around for a water fountain to refuel (there wasn’t one), then headed back down and retraced my steps home.
About 4 miles into the run I’d noticed that my left nipple bandaid had come off. After 7 miles, I felt a sharp pain and found out the hard way that my right one was off as well - and it was bleeding again. That’s what I get for using old bandaids I guess. Took my shirt off for the last stretch, which caused my water belt to rub, so I ended up running with a bloody shirt in one hand and my belt pack in the other.
I ran past my car down to the MoPac rock, then back again, to get the distance over 10 miles. My overall pace ranged between 9:00 and 10:00 the whole way, which is very solid for that course (especially since I was just going for 10:00). And apart from the rubbing, it was a whole lot of fun - and even with it, it was still a blast.
Next up - biking the last 20% of the Urban Assault course this afternoon.
Total mileage: 10.2
Popularity: 3%
Jun 19th 2004
12:26 PM
What a great sounding run. I’m envious of the scenery.
I didn’t know you did the nipple band-aid thing. I just switched to an EMS Techwick shirt and I get nipple abrasion (can you say ow?) fairly intense. I haven’t put on anything yet, hoping that maybe I can toughen up a little? Who knows.
Jun 19th 2004
1:22 PM
I have to recommend wearing the band-aids. I use them on any run over 10 miles. I actually never have had the bleeding happen, but I remember the first time I did a 12 miler or so I *really* hurt there at the end, and someone suggested the band-aids. Never had aproblem since, but you have to get decent ones. The cheap ones or old ones can fall off pretty easily.
Jun 20th 2004
9:48 AM
Ouch! Ditto on the bandaids. I used them for my last 10-miler and then in the half. Thanks for the reminder too, I had forgotten about that little hazard.
Aug 21st 2004
4:52 PM
OK, I was redoing my race schedule and wandered over here on a link. I want to point out that when I said “old bandaids” I was meaning ones that had been purchased several years ago, NOT ones that had been pre-used. Just in case there’s any confusion about the matter.