Strong Finish

Nothing like a nice 18-miler to finish out the week. Plus, I was able to "bank" some calories for Super Bowl pizza feast.

Mileage: 18.00

Time/Pace: 2:37:30/8:45

Avg HR/Max HR: 134/177

A Run Filled With Dispair

Thursday, I had my scheduled long run of 18-miles. The weather was cold and windy, but I felt comfortable with my cold gear, so I headed out. During the week, I spend my time in NE Pennslyvania, quite hilly/mountainous (for these parts) terrain. I have generally found this running tough, but beneficial.

This long run started out okay. I was moving along at a good clip and maintaining my pace well. However at the 9 mile mark, I turned to head back and this is where the mental and physical beating began. The first 9 were primarily downhill miles, so I was prepared for the 9 back up the hill (about 1000ft climb). What I was not prepared for was the wind in my face, the darkness of the evening, how fast my energy drained as I climbed. Add to this the remoteness of the countryside, I felt alone against a seemingly unsurmountable task.

I have to say this was the toughest training run I've ever done. It was the ultimate test in will power. From mile 14 on, I fought for every step, had to dig deeper and had some very lonely moments where I contemplated giving up. At the steepest climb, I did briskly walk for about .25 miles. My spirit was crushed. The hills, wind, darkness and cold had defeated me.

I finished well below the pace I was targeting, and for what I should have been easily able to accomplish.

Mileage: 18.00
Time/Pace: 2:58:26/9:54
Avg HR/Max HR: 141/158
Elevation: 1430ft
T/W: 20's (wc 6), wind

What doesn't kill you...

Week of 11/7 Runs

This week is the first in a 3 week taper to the Philadelphia Marathon.

Friday
Mileage: 18.00
Time/Pace: 2:52:01/9:33
Avg HR/Max HR: 141/161
Elevation: 1520 ft

Good long run. The course I took has one pretty nasty 3-mile climb, but is balanced well with some downhill work.

Sunday-5 Mile Tempo
Mileage (w/wu&cd): 7.00
Tempo Splits: 7:15, 7:17, 7:16, 7:20, 7:12
Time/Pace: 53:45/7:40
Avg HR/Max HR: 150/164
Elevation: 141ft

Tempo work on flatter land, so much easier than the hills, duh, right?

18 Mile Run

Want to know the secret to getting up at 4am to do a long run? Before you go to bed think about how great it is to get up early and get out there. Think about the cool air, watching the sun come up and being alone with your thoughts. When that alarm goes off, you'll jump right out of bed and hit the roads.

Mileage: 18.00
Time/Pace: 3:00:13/10:00
Avg HR: 139
Elevation Gain: 367 ft
T/W: 69, dark then sunny

Splits
1-4 (10:17): 10:14, 10:15, 10:12, 10:18
5-13 (10:07): 10:04, 10:05, 10:06, 10:02, 10:06, 10:05, 10:00, 10:06, 10:04
14-18 (9:57): 10:00, 9:47, 9:45, 9:45, 9:11

Not So Long Anymore

About a year ago, I was practically terrified to see a 7 mile run on my schedule. A year later, looking at an 18 miler, I got out with excitement and vigor. Weird huh? I must be going nuts. I mean, really, who gets excited about running 3 hours non-stop? I do! (insert comments here).

My focus today was to continue my negative split experiment. Goals for today was mile 1-5 @ 10:40, 6-13 @ 10:25, 14-18 @ 9:55. My ultimate goal is to run a 10:00 pace for a marathon, so it is important that I keep pushing my times lower, but at a very controlled pace. So this is what I did....

The weather was brisk, about 38 at the start, but a strong wind from the northwest. Decent running weather, except when heading directly into the wind.

Miles 1-5 (10:40): 10:33, 10:37, 10:38, 10:36, 10:37
Miles 6-13 (10:25): 10:22, 10:24, 10:18, 10:18, 10:24, 10:21, 10:21, 10:20
Miles 14-18 (9:55): 9:47, 9:56, 9:51, 9:50, 9:46

Totals:
Mileage: 18.00
Time/Pace: 3:05:07/10:17
Avg HR: 153

I felt pretty good throughout the entire run, and was even able to turn my best mile on the 18th. I wore a knee support, which seemed to be huge in helping with that issue. It is sore, but nothing worse and actually feels better than it did after the 16 miler last week.

A bit about my nutrition pre-run and during the run. I ate a bowl of cereal and ate a GU prior to the run. During my run I eat 1 serving (1/2 of a package) of Clif Shots every 30 minutes. This strategy seems to be working well for me.

I'm about 50/50 about running the Grand Island 1/2 marathon, so stay tuned...

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Big 18 miler today. I debated back and forth about indoors or outdoors and finally decided on out. Not a bad day weather-wise, decently sunny, cold, but bearable.

The run started off well, and the first 8 flew by at my goal pace (9:27, 9:27, 9:30, 9:28, 9:30, 9:31, 9:33, 9:32) . 9-11 a little slower (9:45, 10:21, 10:22), but still reasonable, hit some bad road maintenance here and was annoyed. 12-14, whew, tougher and slower (10:41, 10:44, 10:36), 15-17 ugh (!), just finish (11:08, 11:15, 11:14) and 18 pulled it together a little bit to finish with a 10:36.

Totals
Mileage: 18.00
Time/Pace: 3:02:49/10:09
AVG HR: 155
T/W: 13 (WC3)/sun

Now on to the Good, Bad and Ugly

GOOD: Town of Tonawanda road maintenance. Bravo, boys! Clear roads very little snow and ice, even shoulders clear. Excellent!

BAD: Buffalo road maintenance. WTF. Horrible. As though they didn't even plow. My original intention was to run to Delaware Park via Buffalo side streets, but bailed on that shortly after entering city limits. I feel bad for the residents of Buffalo who can't get decent road work done. I understand it is a tough job, but if Tonawanda can do it, Buffalo can certainly do it too.

UGLY: MY splits! I am a very competitive person, which is weird, because I not really that good at anything. However, when I set a goal and miss it, I'm hard on myself. Like today, I was well of my goal pace of 9:29. However, I really need to focus on the fact that I finished this workout of 18 miles, something I've never done before. I've only run a handful of times over 10 miles, so I guess I shouldn't be too hard on myself. I keep trying to tell myself, I'm still new at this, but regardless I find myself pushing hard to get to my goals.

I also ran 3.04 miles yesterday and I'm looking forward to a day off tomorrow!