I suppose it was just a matter of time, but today was the first run where I set out to do a certain distance and came up short. :-( Before I get into excuses, here's the data.
Target - 20 miles
Actual - 19.37 miles
Time - 3:10:87
13.1 Split - 2:04:xx
Mileage Total for Sept - 73.22
Things just didn't line up that well today. Temps at 49 when left, no issues there, actually it felt good! Carried two 20oz bottles and one 22oz on my back for the first 2 mi and then dropped the 2 in the park. Instead of watching the Heart Rate and keeping in a zone, I decided to just get into a good breathing rythm and go with that At mile 3 I felt a small rock rolling around in my shoe and just decided to keep going. Mile 3.5 was stopped dead at a light for like a minute, crazy morning traffic, and then again by a lost motorist a half mile later...One of my pet peeves!!! Can't you see I'm running here!!!! After that things were going well, but felt just blah...not stiff or in pain, but just never got into a rythm as I typically do. I did a double loop in a pretty hilly area and headed back towards where my water bottles are. Somehow I miscalculated the mileage and was behind by around a mile or so. So I had to loop this downtown area like 3 times which is another annoyance of mine...I just get bored and lose all motivation. At mile 16ish I started to feel pain in the tendon behind my knee, but kept plugging along. My calves were burning, but I expected that at this mileage. So at this point I'm unmotivated by having to cratively make up mileage and headed towards home thinking I would just make my 20. Turns out I have to wog the last mile in this run (another first) as my tendon wouldn't hold up on the hills and I couldn't even take a corner without it feeling like it would give out. So I ran the straightaways and walked the corners/hills.
I was contemplating another long one prior to the marthon, but I'm only 21 days out and don't think I could get another one in with enough time to recoup. So I'm going to keep them under 10 the rest of the way and hope for the best. The good news is that the marathon course is pretty darn flat, although, anything is flat in comparison to what I've been running lately. Also, I won't have to carry water with me!
Side note - Got Disney's Earth Blu-Ray in the mail from Blockbuster and will watch over the weekend. I'll let y'all know how it is. :-)
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6 comments:
2:04 split on a 20 mile run is looking good. I'm sure you'll do fine at the marathon. Best of luck.
No worries. This sounds like a good training run despite the issues.
Most training programs I have seen call the long weekend runs, "LSD runs". LSD=Long Slow Distance.
It's not about running it at pace. It's about training your body to stay on its feet and moving for a certain number of hours. I have read stories about pro marathoners doing very slow LSD runs on the weekend--up to twice as slow as an actual event pace.
The shorter runs during the week are for speed work.
At race time, the two types of runs come together for the actual event. It's a mental thing. You pull together speed and distance for the event itself. It's not important to run the long runs at marathon pace.
The event itself will put you in the right mental state to finish in good time. I've seen this same thing happen with my races.
You are doing fine. Believe me.
I know your not happy with this run. But trust me you did great. Now you know what you need to do to finish this thing.
I think 19 miles is just fine! As you know, a Disney race is easier than training runs, so I think you will be fine. And I'm jealous!
Ok... when you set out to do 5 miles and only do 2, then you can feel bad.
You did awesome!
Okay, seriously - 19.37 is not falling short. Remember some courses aren't spot on in their mileage. You did great and not pushing to the point of complete breakdown is fine!
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