It's like fishing...

Sometimes all you need is one good session and faith is restored. That was tonight.

20.5km, the normal route to the Narrows, in 1:45. Not quick, but like clockwork - steady cadence throughout, good technique, no fuss, no hassles, just ease on through.
Tonight was also the first outing for the peanut butter apricot powerbricks. Maybe placebo, but I shall never go out without my balls again. (This is not an odd comment, since they started out as little rectangular bricks, but after an hour in their little baggie, they were nicely rounded little oblongs). The next batch, I think, will be teaspoon sized balls - easier to pop in and a little smaller - perhaps they will go down every 20 minutes or at any water stop. Also, my worry about them falling apart was unfounded - things get a little warm in the back of the shorts, so they softened and glued together perfectly.
I must admit the one hour brick was so darn good I almost ate his mate as well.

Consuming some fuel along the way had an interesting side effect, or magnified a normal one - the runner's fart. Now I am convinced that any runner who says they don't fart on the road is lying about the farting or the running.
The problem with the riverside course at dusk is that it is quite well populated with happy people, enjoying walks, picnics and the serenity. A weedy runner sliding on by with an accompanying chorus of ducks is possibly off-putting. For me, nothing destroys a good run faster than trying to hold one in. A great deal of concentration goes into timing a release for the little gaps of no-mans-land between picnics.

On a more pleasant note, tonight also contained a new sensation that I spent half the run trying to describe and maintain. I often talk about the "float" technique - where the stride, cadence and energy levels come together to create an effortless glide - often fleeting but oh so good. Well, tonight offered a sensation of weightlessness. I can best describe the sensation as having a string puling up through my head, such that I was barely touching the ground, and if I lifted off, I would just keep spinning my legs over. Very weird, but rather euphoric. The nice thing was that, rather than burning it up and pushing while it felt good, the sensation allowed me to settle in and flow along with it for a few hundred metres at a time. Lasted for about 4km at about the 14-18km zone.
Perhaps I had lost feeling in my legs and feet. Perhaps I was hallucinating from peanut butter overload. Perhaps I haven't been for a run at all. Who cares! It was like catching a huge fish on the last cast of the day.

Feet are a little rubbed, achilles are a little achy, but otherwise a fantastic run and a 15 minute recovery.
Faith restored. I may need to go fishing for dinner, as well.....