Post by dudesky1000 on Sept 9, 2012 18:41:43 GMT -5
So after the injuries and the scarring quad steps failure at the ANW weekend (lol), I have finally returned to the world of long distance running. And what a re-introduction for me, a 16-mile run.
Notes:
-This was the longest run I have ever done. The previous longest was 13.1 miles, a half marathon. In case you don't know from experience, adding 3 miles at that distance is brutal. Just brutal.
-This was also the first time I was using gels during a long run. Gels are endurance fuels (recommended by several pro endurance athletes) that are meant to give you newfound energy for about 45 minutes when you are already an hour or so into your run. In essence, gels prevent you from bonking or 'hitting the wall' before its too late. Once it's too late of course, gels won't do jack for you. The brand I was recommended was Hammer Nutrition, and the flavors I heard were the best were Raspberry and Apple Cinnammon (in case you were interested for some reason).
-This was also the very first time I tried a different technique to fuel before my run. Instead of eating a small quaker oats peanut butter chocolate chip bar like I usually do, I have now decided for runs longer than 10 miles I will now eat about half a bagel. Hopefully next week I will have peanut butter on my hands so I can add peanut butter, which should also help a little.
Recap:
Okay, so, the route for this run was a lap of 6 miles (mostly uphill) and two laps of 5 miles.
I decided to run with the bulk of the team, which was at a pretty solid 10.5 minute mile pace. I wanted to really cover a lot of ground in my warmup so I could ease into my average pace with as little trouble as possible. I figured because I hadn't done many runs recently, it was better to be safe than sorry.
At exactly 30 minutes, I sped up and started to creep into my average pace, which broke me off from the rest of the group (some of them were conserving themselves for an 18 mile run, and those in the novice group were content with their pace to finish their 13 miles. In case anybody is wondering I am on the 'advanced/elite' group which was only doing 16 today instead of 18. Why the intermediate group is going further than us right now is beyond me!)
The first 6 mile lap was a piece of cake and I got it done in a little less than an hour. I had my raspberry gel, which was unreasonably difficult to open. I mean seriously! I needed to borrow someone's pocket knife to get it open! Finally, I enjoyed the extremely odd taste and texture of this goo, and I was back on the road.
Then, all of a sudden, it was as if a tidal wave had come over us. I have never run in torrential downpour, and was not expecting it at all today, but as luck would have it, in a matter of just a couple of minutes, the paths were flooded and my socks were soaked to the bone and I could barely open my eyes it was so heavy. I was already on my 7th mile, so I wasn't going to stop now. I needed this 16 mile run, and I wasn't willing to give up without a fight, so I kept going. My feet felt like bricks, but I had just opened up a donation page and had gone public about my crohn's disease, so I really did not want to come back with bad news.
I must also say, personally, probably my greatest weakness as a runner is getting past the mental challenge of laps. On the second lap for example, I had a very hard time wrapping my head around the idea that I would not only have to finish this lap, but as bad as I was already feeling, I would have to do it all AGAIN. Thankfully the marathon itself is just a straight path, so I won't have this kind of problem.
Finally, at about the 10th mile, the heavy rain stopped. There was still a drizzle, but as far as I was concerned I was back in business. After finishing the second lap with about 1:45:00 on the clock I gulped some gatorade and then began the dreaded final lap of 5. Well, it turned out to be anything but dreaded. The gel/bagel must have suddenly kicked in because apparently I flew like a rocket. I don't remember very much about the final lap except my legs were beginning to feel a new, different kind of fatigue (almost the same kind as when I do squats/leg press), and the sun finally came out. Unbelievably, to the surprise and awe of the trainers, I finished my last 5 miles of 16 in 35 minutes, to finish with a grand total of 2:20:19. ;D
Final time: 2:20:19
Average pace: 8.75 minutes per mile
I am very, very happy with this run. Not a very impressive min/mile average but given the circumstances I am overjoyed that I finished at all. Maybe, if it didn't rain so hard and my socks didn't make my feet a half pound heavier, I could have brought it down to 8.5 or 8. And perhaps if I had cut down on my warm up by a couple of minutes or sped my warm-up to 9.5 minutes per mile, I could have cut down on time. Anyway, these are just things for me to think about as I go ahead.
Next saturday is an even tougher 18 mile run, and I guess at that distance I'll start to get an idea of my expected marathon time(?)!
Notes:
-This was the longest run I have ever done. The previous longest was 13.1 miles, a half marathon. In case you don't know from experience, adding 3 miles at that distance is brutal. Just brutal.
-This was also the first time I was using gels during a long run. Gels are endurance fuels (recommended by several pro endurance athletes) that are meant to give you newfound energy for about 45 minutes when you are already an hour or so into your run. In essence, gels prevent you from bonking or 'hitting the wall' before its too late. Once it's too late of course, gels won't do jack for you. The brand I was recommended was Hammer Nutrition, and the flavors I heard were the best were Raspberry and Apple Cinnammon (in case you were interested for some reason).
-This was also the very first time I tried a different technique to fuel before my run. Instead of eating a small quaker oats peanut butter chocolate chip bar like I usually do, I have now decided for runs longer than 10 miles I will now eat about half a bagel. Hopefully next week I will have peanut butter on my hands so I can add peanut butter, which should also help a little.
Recap:
Okay, so, the route for this run was a lap of 6 miles (mostly uphill) and two laps of 5 miles.
I decided to run with the bulk of the team, which was at a pretty solid 10.5 minute mile pace. I wanted to really cover a lot of ground in my warmup so I could ease into my average pace with as little trouble as possible. I figured because I hadn't done many runs recently, it was better to be safe than sorry.
At exactly 30 minutes, I sped up and started to creep into my average pace, which broke me off from the rest of the group (some of them were conserving themselves for an 18 mile run, and those in the novice group were content with their pace to finish their 13 miles. In case anybody is wondering I am on the 'advanced/elite' group which was only doing 16 today instead of 18. Why the intermediate group is going further than us right now is beyond me!)
The first 6 mile lap was a piece of cake and I got it done in a little less than an hour. I had my raspberry gel, which was unreasonably difficult to open. I mean seriously! I needed to borrow someone's pocket knife to get it open! Finally, I enjoyed the extremely odd taste and texture of this goo, and I was back on the road.
Then, all of a sudden, it was as if a tidal wave had come over us. I have never run in torrential downpour, and was not expecting it at all today, but as luck would have it, in a matter of just a couple of minutes, the paths were flooded and my socks were soaked to the bone and I could barely open my eyes it was so heavy. I was already on my 7th mile, so I wasn't going to stop now. I needed this 16 mile run, and I wasn't willing to give up without a fight, so I kept going. My feet felt like bricks, but I had just opened up a donation page and had gone public about my crohn's disease, so I really did not want to come back with bad news.
I must also say, personally, probably my greatest weakness as a runner is getting past the mental challenge of laps. On the second lap for example, I had a very hard time wrapping my head around the idea that I would not only have to finish this lap, but as bad as I was already feeling, I would have to do it all AGAIN. Thankfully the marathon itself is just a straight path, so I won't have this kind of problem.
Finally, at about the 10th mile, the heavy rain stopped. There was still a drizzle, but as far as I was concerned I was back in business. After finishing the second lap with about 1:45:00 on the clock I gulped some gatorade and then began the dreaded final lap of 5. Well, it turned out to be anything but dreaded. The gel/bagel must have suddenly kicked in because apparently I flew like a rocket. I don't remember very much about the final lap except my legs were beginning to feel a new, different kind of fatigue (almost the same kind as when I do squats/leg press), and the sun finally came out. Unbelievably, to the surprise and awe of the trainers, I finished my last 5 miles of 16 in 35 minutes, to finish with a grand total of 2:20:19. ;D
Final time: 2:20:19
Average pace: 8.75 minutes per mile
I am very, very happy with this run. Not a very impressive min/mile average but given the circumstances I am overjoyed that I finished at all. Maybe, if it didn't rain so hard and my socks didn't make my feet a half pound heavier, I could have brought it down to 8.5 or 8. And perhaps if I had cut down on my warm up by a couple of minutes or sped my warm-up to 9.5 minutes per mile, I could have cut down on time. Anyway, these are just things for me to think about as I go ahead.
Next saturday is an even tougher 18 mile run, and I guess at that distance I'll start to get an idea of my expected marathon time(?)!