I ran 12 miles with J yesterday. There were many things not in my favor: 1. i haven't been getting many mid week runs in 2. I forgot my gatorade, not that is was hot, but i feel like the sugar gives me a boost, and without the drink i couldn't wash down my sports beans 3. it was cold (that is supposed to make it easier, maybe the cold winds hurt more than anything) 4. i started at a comfortable pace but it was way too fast. i did learn some valuable lessons today, more on that later.
so J and i met up and he let me lead for the first part. I was really comfortable with my pace at the beginning, but knew it was too fast to last, but i was hoping i would just slow down at the end, not give out. i was feeling pretty good at 6 miles, the halfway point. up until that point i was right at 50 seconds faster than last weeks 12 mile run. at 6 miles i had slowed to 30 seconds faster. at 9 miles i was 25 seconds slower than last week. at mile 10.5 i fizzled out and had to begin walking a good bit. i finished at 2:09.45. i didn't feel very good about this run because i had to walk some and actually finished 8 seconds slower than last week. i really ran out of energy. i was hoping, since this was my second run of 12 miles, i would finish stronger. other than one 1/2 mile split i would have beat last weeks time. however, i just looked over my times for last year (didn't run any 12 mile runs) and at the 10 mile mark this week i was anywhere from 2-15 minutes faster than my 10 milers last year. however, i never had a hard time finishing the longer runs last year, but hey, i still have 3 more months to go. and to cut 15 minutes off of 10 miles is pretty good. i will say having J behind me did push me a little.
i am 40 miles behind last year's mileage right now. if i could complete two good weeks i would be right at the same mileage. if i do a 6, 5 and 12 miler (what i have planned for this week) i will be 22 miles behind last year. so, i am not too worried just yet, just have to start making it a point to get the runs in, as it is getting dark much earlier and i won't have as much light to run in. so, here comes running in the dark again. i did it last year, guess i can do it again, it is just another obstacle i will have to get over. i have thought about running 3 easy miles on my off days, just to get some easy mileage in. easy to say, when i can't even get my regular mileage in :)
thoughts of the day: lessons learned (and one relearned) from a 12 mile run: 1)go back and get my drink no matter how cool it is outside and no matter how tough i think i am. 2) at least suck on some sports beans or blocks if i don't have a drink. even though i had eaten lots of good carbs the few days before the run, i still needed some in run energy. 2)start slower. i learned this last year. however, i think i took this to the extreme last year and never got much faster, i did finish all but my 20 mile run. while they weren't all easy to finish, i never had to walk much, even on the 18 miler. it is hard for me to tell where the meeting point is, but from this run i think that 1-2 mid week runs should be about gaining speed and longer runs for endurance (duh, just like my new training plans says). but i fight with the question, if i am doing speedwork during the week, how much can i speed up and still finish comfortably on the long run? i guess i have 3 months to figure that out. i think the clarksville 1/2 marathon will help me answer that a little better. J said he planned on tapering for the clarksville 1/2. i just looked at my plan and the saturday before the 1/2 is a 20 mile run that goes into a week with four 6 mile runs, a rest week. so maybe that won't be so bad. in my training plan, for the next 3 months, i have three 16 mile runs, one 18 mile run, and three 20 mile runs on the weekends, along with some shorter runs during rest weeks and tapering. i am not sure what i am doing this week, i am behind schedule, i guess we will see how the week goes.
p.s. i didn't hear either "Rocky" song during the run the other day. a little "Eye of the Tiger" might have given me the push i needed. and once again, J got so far ahead of me i quit trying. :)
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