The 14 Mile War

I parked my car at the Manhasset train station and set out to do my 14 miles on the hilly, but beautiful north shore.  I did 6 miles in South Strathmore, including the Americana shopping center parking lot and a quick stop to the bathroom at Christopher Morley Park.  I crossed over Northern Boulevard through Munsey Park and back to the station to have a swig of Gatorade.  Two nasty blisters appeared out of nowhere on both my left pinkie toe and the next littlest toe (What is this toe called?  The ring toe?  Fred?).  It was bothersome, but manageable.

Fred and Pinkie back from the war.

I ran through Plandome and Flower Hill.  At the 11 mile mark, I felt I needed some more water so I popped into Whole Foods for a quick drink from their water fountain, aka sink (A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do...).  I got back to the train station in a little over two hours, an 8:53 pace.  I'm trying to do my longer runs at a slower pace.  Supposedly, this is the best way to avoid injury and it is doesn't affect race pace negatively.  I'm used to doing all of my runs at an 8:30 pace or less, depending on the distance.  According to the experts, when marathon training, the long runs should be run at least 90 seconds slower than race pace.  That takes some discipline and practice, mainly because when I'm out there for a long time, I just want to get it over with and be done.

Isn't it pretty?

By the end of my run, my shorts were soaked from a combination of sweat and a couple of sprinkler sprints.  Unfortunately, this resulted in some nasty chaffing on my inner thighs.  Ouch!  Lucky for me, my freighbor gave me some Glide before last year's marathon.  I didn't need it back then, but was I happy to see that little dispenser in my medicine chest!  Grease is the word, baby!

Say hello to my little friend!