This morning, after discovering that it was 33 degrees out, I decided on my cold gear pants, bra, tank, and long sleeve shirt. I took the kids to school and was COLD. I came home and had to fight the urge to add more clothes. I did allow myself to add gloves. I got my fuel belt and MP3 player and headed out at 8:15.
Lucky for me the sun was out and it didn’t take long for me to warm up. By a mile and a half I was already shedding the gloves. Great now I get to carry them for sixteen and a half miles!!
At two and a half miles I got greeted by a chocolate lab puppy. He jumped up on my left calf and I spent the next 50 yards stopping to yell at home trying to get him to go home. I know from experience that it is not fun for runner or dog to get tripped.
At 6 miles I ate a hammer gel. I was starting to get tired.
At 10 miles I figured if I ran Danbury, then I would hit just perfect heading back across the highway and running those neighborhoods again.
12 miles I ate another gel and was really feeling the miles.
13.1 miles I was at 2:07 and knew this was 2 minutes FASTER then I ran my first half marathon two and a half years ago. Still 4.9 miles to go.
At 15.5 miles I realized I was going to have to do a third lap of Amberwood or 3 laps of my neighborhood. I didn’t trust myself being so close to home so I went through Amberwood again. I was dragging.
I finally made it to the home stretch. As I ran past my house I still had 0.2 miles to go. I ran as hard as I could to the stop sign, turned and headed home. Funny, it was 0.12 miles to the stop sign but only 0.7 on the way back so I had to run up my driveway too. Finally 18 miles!!
I stopped the Garmin and could hardly get one foot in front of the other. Total time 2:57:27. That is a 9:52 pace. Goal pace was PMP + 30 seconds. In order to get a 4 hour marathon I have to run a 9:10 pace. So that makes today another missed pace!! Comment: I was actually shooting for a 9:40 pace PMP + 30 seconds.
I took and ice bath, ate a grilled cheese sandwich, and took a power nap before having to claim the kids at school.
Here are the splits:
9:20, 9:30, 9:33, 9:43, 9:46, 9:37, 9:53, 9:42, 9:38, 9:42, 9:40, 10:04, 10:07, 10:01, 10:16, 10:11, 10:30, 10:16
Avg HR: 158 Max HR: 168
Joseph: Want to make a road trip? How about the first weekend in Dec. I hear Memphis is the place to be. I might stand a chance of that 4 hour marathon if I could get you to slow down and pull me to the finish line!
marathon maritza: I am running the Memphis St. Jude Marathon Dec 2nd. Day before yours. It’s getting close!!!
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6 comments:
9:52 is quite a bit off 9:10, but there are mitigating factors:
1) it was cold, which always lowers your pace
2) You have to be in marathon shape on marathon day, not 2 months beforehand.
3) Marathon pace will feel easier on marathon day, because you will be rested, rather than in the middle of training.
Apart from that I discourage you from running long runs at marathon pace. The usual recommended pace is 10-20% slower. Having said that, I find it hard to slow down that much, but I definitely run them slower than MP.
You might be a bit disappointed with the pace, but 18 miles in training is always an achievment. Well Done!
Looks to me like you did great!
Michele .. just a couple of points to add to Thomas's excellent comments. You are improving! The fact that you went out and ran 18 miles and had a 1/2 marathon split FASTER than you initial race at that distance is saying something. I still haven't come close to accomplishing that goal. Keep you long runs steady. They are serving the purpose of building up your cardio-vascular systems. Things will feel different on race day.
Okay, except for the distance, your runs sound so much like mine. I am constantly turning on little side streets trying to hit those perfect miles and, like you, I don't always trust myself running so close to home.
Nice job on the 3-Hour run michele! Your pace seems fine, some days you just have to go with the pace your body feels like running. You should feel nothin but proud of yourself!! :)
Great job on the LR! Don't beat yourself up about the pace, training runs are always more difficult and this is the first cold snap we've had!!
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