I'm alive.
I ran 22 on Saturday.
I made it. Barely.
I wanted to run a 10:15 pace. Close-ish to race pace, but slow enough that I shouldn't get completely annihilated.
From the start, I just felt off. Before the run, Ruth and I were rushing around, making last minute plans and where to run, how to get the miles in, where to start, where to finish. We were going to do the TC10 route...but we needed to do it twice (and then some) to get the full 22 miles in. Backwards then forwards? Forwards then backwards?
I am usually a "go with the flow" kind of gal, but when it comes to running, I am a Type A Planner. I like to know exactly where we are running. How many miles. What time we will start. I do not do well with just heading out and running without purpose. I need to visualize.
Anyway.
We ended up meeting at the finish and driving to the start. Kristen (who needed to run 11 miles) met us there and we were off.
The TC10 course runs under the I-35 bridge path. The I-35 bridge was JUST opened on Thursday (remember the collapse?) but the path? Still closed. So we did the run around (pun intended) to try and figure out how to cross the river. We ran through campus, through tunnels and cut across grass. We were not running on even surfaces. We were not on running paths. We were not on the TC10 course. It was very difficult to maintain a steady pace.
After running 4 miles, we finally (finally!) stumbled upon Mile 3 of the course. Thank You Jesus. I finally knew where we were and was happy to be running again. For about 5 seconds.
I could not keep the negative thoughts out of my head. I tried and tried, but I couldn't snap out of it. Running was mentally painful. Every step was a challenge.
I won't get into the nitty gritty mile breakdown because I don't want to rehash the run. I don't want to remember the negative thoughts that went through my head. It's best to forget.
In the end, I ran 22 miles at a 10:27 pace. I muscled through, even though every mile sucked.
I am going to stick with a marathon goal pace of 9:45. This was an off day. This is not reflective of how my race is going to be. And if I do have a bad race day...at least I know I'll be able to run through the pain.
Distance: 22 miles
Pace: 10:27
Average HR: 163
Three words to describe this run: Kill Me Now
I ran 22 on Saturday.
I made it. Barely.
I wanted to run a 10:15 pace. Close-ish to race pace, but slow enough that I shouldn't get completely annihilated.
From the start, I just felt off. Before the run, Ruth and I were rushing around, making last minute plans and where to run, how to get the miles in, where to start, where to finish. We were going to do the TC10 route...but we needed to do it twice (and then some) to get the full 22 miles in. Backwards then forwards? Forwards then backwards?
I am usually a "go with the flow" kind of gal, but when it comes to running, I am a Type A Planner. I like to know exactly where we are running. How many miles. What time we will start. I do not do well with just heading out and running without purpose. I need to visualize.
Anyway.
We ended up meeting at the finish and driving to the start. Kristen (who needed to run 11 miles) met us there and we were off.
The TC10 course runs under the I-35 bridge path. The I-35 bridge was JUST opened on Thursday (remember the collapse?) but the path? Still closed. So we did the run around (pun intended) to try and figure out how to cross the river. We ran through campus, through tunnels and cut across grass. We were not running on even surfaces. We were not on running paths. We were not on the TC10 course. It was very difficult to maintain a steady pace.
After running 4 miles, we finally (finally!) stumbled upon Mile 3 of the course. Thank You Jesus. I finally knew where we were and was happy to be running again. For about 5 seconds.
I could not keep the negative thoughts out of my head. I tried and tried, but I couldn't snap out of it. Running was mentally painful. Every step was a challenge.
I won't get into the nitty gritty mile breakdown because I don't want to rehash the run. I don't want to remember the negative thoughts that went through my head. It's best to forget.
In the end, I ran 22 miles at a 10:27 pace. I muscled through, even though every mile sucked.
I am going to stick with a marathon goal pace of 9:45. This was an off day. This is not reflective of how my race is going to be. And if I do have a bad race day...at least I know I'll be able to run through the pain.
Distance: 22 miles
Pace: 10:27
Average HR: 163
Three words to describe this run: Kill Me Now
6 Comments:
Aw, but at least days like that can make you appreciate the super awesome running days even more!
its done! great job for pushing through a miserable 22 miles!! since this one was bad then must mean the marathon will be AMAZING! you will definitely know how to push through the tough spots if any.
Really, that's a good training pace based on your race goals so don't sweat it. You did 22 miles. That's what counts.
Way to go! I totally understand about the type A thing with needing to know where you're going to go, how far, etc. That's probably why I'm so resistant to running outside. If I'm on the hamster wheel I know how far and fast I'm going. I'm lazy like that.
Alleycat -- first of all, congratulations on running 22 miles! But don't beat yourself up; if anything you ran too fast. Your long runs should be 10-20% slower than your marathon pace (they're designed to build endurance, not speed). You're going to be fine!
Damn. Sorry it was so tough. But you logged the miles! That's what matter!! Nice work!
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