First Long Run and Insights on the First Week of Marathon Training

Today, I had a 14 miler scheduled. Been there, done that, so I should not be worried, right? Except for the fact that I've been bunking all my long runs in the past 1.5 months and that I had not been able to finish 10 miles, imagine 14.

I woke up at 5:15am, ate some Fruit Loops, milk, and OJ, and prepared my long run pack. I took a packet of gu chomps, a hammer gel (just in case), Mace and 20oz of water. My ipod and Garmin were also included and off we went. I started running at 6:08 AM.

It was already hot and I could tell that it was going to be a hot day. I felt good throughout the first 5 miles, then throughout miles 5-10, then I make a quick stop at the park to refill my water bottle. There was no water! I had 1 oz of water and 4 more miles to go with hot (very hot) temperatures. Fortunately, there was another water fountain 0.50 miles away and they had opened that one. For some reason the city does not open all the restrooms and the water fountains at once. I have no idea why.

So that threw me off a little. I headed out of the park at around mile 11.50 because I had 2 miles to get home. I stopped at Mile 11 to rest because it was hot and I felt I could not go on. I did the same at Mile 12 and at Mile 13. However, none of the feelings I had during the previous long runs were there: there was no physical wall, no mental block, no sudden tiredness. I just kept resting and running. I was soaked. But I finished.

Here are the stats:

Weight: 165
Temps: 86F
Felt Like: 96F
Humidity: 71%
Dew Point: 75
Pounds Lost: 3 lbs.
Goal Pace: 10:56mm - 11:56mm
Actual Pace: 12:05mm
Fueling: 2 gu chomps every 2.5 miles. Did not use the Hammer Gel.

Overall, although slower than pace, the heat was so bad I think I did well notwithstanding. I did around some miles at pace. Here are the splits:

Mile 1: 12:32
Mile 2: 12:32
Mile 3: 12:37
Mile 4: 12:35
Mile 5: 12:14
Mile 6: 11:59
Mile 7: 11:57
Mile 8: 11:46
Mile 9: 11:31
Mile 10: 11:37 (stopped to fill on empty water fountain--twice)
Mile 11: 11:34 (stopped to dispose of gu package)
Mile 12: 11:35
Mile 13: 11:40
Mile 14: 11:58 (the heat was getting to me)

Overall, a good run and the comeback to my long runs.

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