I Finally Completed A Long Run!

Three out of the last four long runs were not very successful.

At Riley's Rumble Half Marathon, I barely got in the 11 miles that was on my training plan (and basically walked in most of the last two), two weeks ago, the 9 miler in Central Park became a 7.5 miler (I'm pretty sure I could have done more but the group had finished at that time and I wasn't going to raise a stink about it!), last week's 14 miler in Boynton Beach, FL turned into a 7 miler due to the heat and humidity.

I was a bit nervous that I would meet the same fate this morning for my scheduled 15 miler.

Last night was my Fantasy Football Draft - which lasted until after midnight. (and where I consumed three slices of pizza and three bottles of Shiner Bock - not necessarily running fuel...) I didn't want to get out too late for my run so I could beat the heat...so I knew I wouldn't have much sleep to go on.

I ended up sleeping from about 12:30am until a little before 6am. No alarm, I just somehow woke up at that time. However, I didn't feel dead to the world - so this was a good sign.

The next really good sign is when I opened the door. It didn't feel like thick soup! The humidity had broken with last night's storms - so it was going to be a more comfortable morning.

I believe the lower humidity made all the difference. Even though my legs started to ache a bit after 10 miles in, I was able to continue and push myself through and finish out this run!

I ran over to the neighborhood where I grew up. I had my parents stow a water bottle in their mailbox so I could refill my water bottles mid-run and only carry two 6 oz bottles on my water belt. The extra water was very helpful. I ended up finishing up the entire 16.9oz bottle along with the 12oz that I started with.

I finished up the run in an 11:17/mile pace with an average HR of 156. My last "successful" long run - a 12 miler three weeks ago - I ran at an 11:23/mile pace with an average HR of 158...so there is a small amount of improvement here.

The best thing, though, is after finishing this run I feel "back in the groove" again. After being on the road for a week, my first few runs didn't feel right - I felt really lethargic. Not that I had a spring in my step for 15 miles today, but today's run felt more natural (even on 5 1/2 hours of sleep!)

I'm going to try to hit the sack early tonight. It's back to work tomorrow :-(