Almost there

11/10: Rest
11/11: 6 Miles, TM. Tempo
11/12: Rest
11/13: 5 miles, TM.
11:14: Rest
11/15: 13 miles, outside and solo
11/16: JM Ripped in 30, level 1. 1 mile, TM.

Total weekly mileage: 25
Total rest days: 3
Total strength: 1
Total run days: 4

So. Long run Saturday.

Let's start with my favorite gymnastics skill.

The SPLITS

Mile 1 - 9:40
Mile 2 - 9:41
Mile 3  - 9:34
Mile 4 - 9:12 (Hammer Gel - Peanut Butter)
Mile 5 - 9:14
Mile 6 - 9:01
Mile 7 - 9:02
Mile 8 - 9:10
Mile 9 - 9:09( Honey Stinger Gel - GROSS)
Mile 10 - 9:08
Mile 11 - 9:05
Mile 12 - 9:11
Mile 13 - 8:44

Total time: 1:59:42
Ave pace: 9:12

Fuel: 2 gels, no water (dumb)
Temp: 35-ish, cold, sunny.
Gear: Capris, L/S mock zip, ear warmer, sunglasses, fuel belt.

First off, I would just like to say,

I love running most of the time.

Yesterday's run was my longest to date for this training cycle: 13 miles. A couple of days before my long runs, I tend to psyche myself out and over analyze every aspect of the run - my fuel, my warm up, my clothing, my route. The week of the long run, I find myself calculating neighborhood routes in my head.

I am weird.

Anyhow, clearly I started off too slow and conservatively. I have this irrational fear that I will burn out in the first three miles, which is untrue because my first couple miles from last weeks run were faster and felt easier? Looking back now, I'm kind of kicking myself because I know I could have had a faster overall pace if I had just listened to my body the first few miles instead of panicking at the watch. I started to get into the groove at mile 4, and did my best to stay focused on an easy but not EASY pace. I also forced myself to run down a hill at mile 7 so I could run back up it for mile 8, kind of simulating the race conditions.

Galer Street, I'm gonna make you my bitch this time mmkay?

Damn, that hill was crazy.

I have been doing my hill training on the treadmill, which has helped tremendously at running up inclines at the same pace as the flat. Yesterday I felt more power in my legs as I was tackling the uphills, and I was able to keep the pace under a 10 min mile for the inclines, which for me is huge progress.

I also treated yesterday as a mini dress rehearsal for the race. I ate 3 small oatmeal breakfast cookies, drank my usual coffee, and had some water before I left the house just as the sun was rising. The weather was frigid but clear and sunny - my absolute favorite.

My plan for fuel was to take a gel at 4, sip sip sip, and then another one around 8.5 miles. To my dismay, I realized the night before that I was out of my regular GU standbys, and so I searched my supplies for some gels, only to find one Hammer gel and a Honey stinger gel. The Hammer gel flavor was peanut butter, and at first sip, I had to read the ingredients to make sure it wasn't actually pure peanut butter. It had a strange gritty texture, and really did mimic peanut butter, minus its original deliciousness. I was able to sip the gel for a mile and a half, and avoided any stomach issues post run. There is not much to say about the Honey Stinger gel except for that it was absolutely disgusting. Perhaps, because it is organic, it just has more of a cloyingly sweet  sugar taste, but I much prefer the deliciously artificial GU brand.

I had to dig deep for the last two miles, as my body is not accustomed to moving past the 11 mile mark. I did stop once or twice during mile 12 because I had to reset my music but I did my best to move as fast as I could for the final 1.5 miles. Overall the run felt really solid. The last two long runs have been tremendous spirit and confidence boosters for me. I am hoping I can carry that feeling to race day.

My goal for this run was to run it at 2 hours or under, and I barely squeezed by! My hope for the race is that I can start off a bit faster, and then maintain the 9-ish min pace for the rest of the race. I remember the course from last year very vividly, and I think I am ready to tackle it again.

Two more weeks, and then we'll find out.