17 miler!

Rainy, rainy weekend here in Chicagoland, but today was beautiful! I had an eight mile run on Saturday, which I planned to do after work. It wasn't raining when I left work, nor when I ate lunch when I got home, nor while my lunch was digesting. However, the second I pulled on my running gear to head out the door, it started POURING. Fantastic. I delayed my run for about ten minutes, and the rain slowed down, so I headed out in the cold rain. It wasn't bad at all once I got going, but my mom said I looked like a wet dog when I returned...haha. Ended up being an awesome run, however!

Saturday, March 7
8.05 miles in 1:01:34, avg pace of 7:39

The run had a progression-y feel to it, and the last three miles hovered around 7:20 miles. Maybe I should run in the rain more often?

I moved my long run for the week ahead a day to Monday, as I served on Sunday...no way was I going to do 17 miles after serving for seven hours! Ended up working out great because it was a calm, sunny 33 degrees when I headed out this morning. I actually dragged my butt out of bed at 6:30 this morning (quite a feat if you know my ability to sleep until 10:30 on any given day) and hit the road by 7:30.

One part of running that I've been trying to work on is just taking one mile at a time. I changed my Garmin screen so that I can see my estimated lap pace, lap distance, and lap time ("lap" = mile). This really helps with taking one mile at a time, as I never look at my watch and think, "Oh my goodness I've been running for an hour and a half!" Instead, I just think, "Halfway through this mile!" In my head I know I've run seven, eight, nine, etc miles, but it's easier to get through the runs mentally if I concentrate on the mile I'm running. It's really been working for me!

Today was another experiment in nutrition. I dropped off two PowerBar Gels (vanilla and tangerine) and some Clif Shot Bloks (strawberry) at the 5 mile, 10 mile, and 14.5 mile mark (conveniently the same location...I'm good at planning) so I could try them out. After today's run, it is safe to say that it is not the taste of the gels that bothers me, but the consistency. Just can't do it. I got through about 1/3 of the vanilla gel at the 5 mile mark and called it quits. At the ten mile mark, I decided to go with the Shot Bloks, but they were super solid because they'd been sitting the cold for so long. I sucked on one for awhile until I could chew it a little, but then I gave up on those after one because I didn't want to sit around forever. At 14.5 miles, I just sipped on some water because I felt like I had enough in the tank to get me home. However, I know I'd definitely be hitting empty if I tried another nine miles once I got home...that would be problematic come race day.

I'm pondering going for a gummy bear/gatorade combination. Has anyone tried this? Obviously people ran marathons before all the gels, chews, and energy drinks were invented.

Anyway, back to the run! I felt awesome for pretty much the entire run, except for when my shoulder would randomly cramp, but better my shoulder than my diaphragm or calves! Like I said earlier, I concentrated on the mile I was on, and the miles just flew by. Here's what I ended up with:

Monday, March 9
17.21 miles in 2:18:48, avg pace of 8:04
Splits: 8:20, 8:20, 8:10, 7:53, 8:14, 8:06, 8:12, 8:09, 8:08, 8:05, 8:03, 7:58, 8:01, 7:52, 7:55, 7:53, 7:44, 1:37 (7:36)

Once I got home, I didn't have time to be tired because I had to shower, eat, and get ready for work. I only worked for about 1.5 hours, but the health inspector showed up during lunch, which always makes for an interesting time. (In case you didn't know....restaurants don't always do everything according to health code...oops?). I was tired when I got home, and my legs are little stiff, so I've been drinking plenty of water and stretching randomly.

Currently making my first attempt at home baked bread...it's currently rising, and hopefully I'll have some good bread for toast in the morning!