A Sunny 18
I completed my 18 mile run yesterday morning, and it went flawless. Despite that fact, I am still a nervous wreck about the actual race! Seriously, I am learning that running a marathon is so much more mental than physical. Every week I prove to myself that I can physically do the distance, but every time I finish I think that the next distance will be impossible to accomplish. Me and my crazy head! At least this is normal from what I have read and from talking to some others.
I woke up to a perfectly gorgeous spring like day, even though it is late January. It was about 49 degrees when I left, and around 60 degrees when I finished. Beautiful blue skies and nothing but sun the whole time. I started off in a long sleeve shirt but had to change to short sleeves around mile 10 when I took a quick pit stop to refill my water bottles. I ran the first 10 miles right at 9:59 mile average, and it felt great. Then came the tricky part. I have been running the first 10 miles of my long runs alone, and then meeting up with my running partner to finish out the last 6 with me at the end. She couldn't run with me at all today, so I had to go the entire 18 alone! After my first 10 it became a lot more mental in pushing myself to go 8 more. I got the next 5 done and was getting really tired, even though I was keeping my average pace right where I wanted it (a little over 10 min miles at this point). I think the last lap of 3 miles was pretty tough....lots of hills, getting hot, and being alone. The good thing was that I was excited to be getting close to finishing. I hit mile 16.5 which was the farthest I have ever been to this point, and was still feeling strong for the most part. I did run out of water, but I knew I just needed to make it the 1.5 miles back to the house to get some more. I listened to my ipod most of the time, but took it off the last mile or so to just listen to my feet and breathing and enjoy the day without any noise. I liked it. My last mile was a little uphill, but I was able to finish strong and push harder at the end. I ran my last mile faster than the previous 3, which was nice. Boy was I glad to be done running! It took me 3:03:20. I ran the first 9 miles in an hour and a half, and the second 9 miles in an hour and 33 minutes. Not bad! My overall pace was 10:11 miles (which includes my walking breaks to drink and refuel along the way). The run was perfect and nothing went wrong at all. Nothing hurt or ached. But I am still freaked out about running 26.2 for some reason. I step back this week to a 12 mile run which I am really looking forward to!! It seems so short. Then on to the big 20 miler and back downhill from there on out to race day. I cannot believe I only have one more really long run before the race!! I think that is what scares me the most. I am getting tired of running for 3 hours + though, so I am ready for this thing to get here and be over with already:)
I woke up to a perfectly gorgeous spring like day, even though it is late January. It was about 49 degrees when I left, and around 60 degrees when I finished. Beautiful blue skies and nothing but sun the whole time. I started off in a long sleeve shirt but had to change to short sleeves around mile 10 when I took a quick pit stop to refill my water bottles. I ran the first 10 miles right at 9:59 mile average, and it felt great. Then came the tricky part. I have been running the first 10 miles of my long runs alone, and then meeting up with my running partner to finish out the last 6 with me at the end. She couldn't run with me at all today, so I had to go the entire 18 alone! After my first 10 it became a lot more mental in pushing myself to go 8 more. I got the next 5 done and was getting really tired, even though I was keeping my average pace right where I wanted it (a little over 10 min miles at this point). I think the last lap of 3 miles was pretty tough....lots of hills, getting hot, and being alone. The good thing was that I was excited to be getting close to finishing. I hit mile 16.5 which was the farthest I have ever been to this point, and was still feeling strong for the most part. I did run out of water, but I knew I just needed to make it the 1.5 miles back to the house to get some more. I listened to my ipod most of the time, but took it off the last mile or so to just listen to my feet and breathing and enjoy the day without any noise. I liked it. My last mile was a little uphill, but I was able to finish strong and push harder at the end. I ran my last mile faster than the previous 3, which was nice. Boy was I glad to be done running! It took me 3:03:20. I ran the first 9 miles in an hour and a half, and the second 9 miles in an hour and 33 minutes. Not bad! My overall pace was 10:11 miles (which includes my walking breaks to drink and refuel along the way). The run was perfect and nothing went wrong at all. Nothing hurt or ached. But I am still freaked out about running 26.2 for some reason. I step back this week to a 12 mile run which I am really looking forward to!! It seems so short. Then on to the big 20 miler and back downhill from there on out to race day. I cannot believe I only have one more really long run before the race!! I think that is what scares me the most. I am getting tired of running for 3 hours + though, so I am ready for this thing to get here and be over with already:)
posted by Lauren at
12:49 PM
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