A run win...

I moved my long run to today since we are away in Cleveland on a mini-vacation. When we return, I plan to do my long ride on Sunday afternoon.

By 8:30 am I was out the door, I wanted to be at 7:30 am, but got caught up on a time warp on Instagram. The good news is this is the first 50-minute run I did without stopping. 

It was about 74 F outside, and my biggest concerns were my left lower leg and calf. I've been rolling it out multiple times daily, always before bed and when I wake up. My goals were to finish without injury and not stop and walk. 

The area we are staying in is fairly industrial, with many commercial buildings. I took off down one sidewalk to do an out-and-back, and then the sidewalk ended. So I had to run back another way, then go down another street.  Then I had to go down another street, all the time doing math to figure out how much more I had to run before turning back. 

I much prefer an out-and-back. It's easy to calculate the time it takes to turn around, and mentally, it's easier when you do the turnaround. There is no alternative but to finish without the temptation to cut a run short. 

I should say there was one very short walk. It was when I saw Alice doing her morning walk. She was walking on the dead-end street I just came off, and a guy was walking behind her that I passed when I ran, and my spidey senses were tingling. He looked homeless, but he wasn't. He was walking slowly, and I wasn't sure if he was drunk from last night or what. 

Regardless, I ran to Alice, and we walked a bit together so the guy saw that we were together. I might have been nothing, but you can never be too safe. That walk was probably 30 - 60 seconds and not an international walk, so it doesn't count as a run walk in my books. 

I will say it wasn't easy. I was breathing heavily the entire time, laboring really, and sweating profusely. My calf was holding up, but I wasn't risking it. I was running slow, not that I had a choice, but it helped to not put too much stress on it. 

When I returned to the hotel, I couldn't stop sweating, as usual. The upside is an air conditioning unit beside the desk and chair in the hotel room. I turned the temperature down to 62 F and sat in the chair, letting the air blow on me. 

It took me about 30 minutes to cool down, and then I did a full set of stretching, which took me about 15 minutes. 

The one thing that bothers me on my run and during my stretching is my fat stomach—or should I say my fat gut! As I'm running, I look down and see this large stomach that looks like I ate a 20-lb turkey. Then, when I stretch, my gut gets in the way, and I can't bend all the way down. 

As I ran, I kept thinking that losing weight was a MUST if I had a chance of finishing this Half-Ironman. I also realize it will probably take two months at minimum to get rid of that 20-lb turkey gut. That's not to say it will be enough. I need to lose 40 lbs before the race. If there was time, the ideal would be to lose at least 50 - 60 lbs. 

I'm unsure where my weight will end up, but I stay faithful to my diet. Today, even though I ate at restaurants, I was able to stay on track. I ordered Cod fish and vegetables for dinner tonight at Gurino's Italian restaurant, the oldest restaurant in Cleveland.

 I rarely order fish or eat it. It always feels like I didn't eat anything, and I don't know if it's even possible to feel stuffed on fish. For breakfast, I had a two-egg veggie omelet.

The rest of the day was spent sightseeing, going through the USS Cod submarine, and driving all the way to Sandusky, Ohio, with the roof down. I toured the different areas and neighborhoods. I will say there are some beautiful neighborhoods and houses in Cleveland. They seem to go on forever, which I didn't expect. 

When I got home from dinner, I checked with my breathalyzer, and I was in full ketosis after eating. 

Run - 50:07 / 6.45 km / 7:46 pace.