Day 21 - My first 18

Today was my first 18 miler. I was a little concerned because my longest was 16 and the program jumped right to 18. But, I planned on walking, crawling, and just finishing. I have other 18 milers where I can actually perform well.

This long run surprised me. Temps were super high so I was not expecting feeling that good. The energy never left and, although I had to walk a few tenths of a mile since Mile 15, I felt great. I had to drink the Orinoco River but all is well.

Stats:
Weight: 166
Temps: 82-89F
Felt Like: 91-103F
Humidity: 85%
Dew Point: 79
Pounds Lost: 2 lbs.
Goal Pace: 10:54-11:54mm
Actual Pace: 12:39mm
Average HR: 152

Here are the splits and some comments on them:
Mile 1 - 13:24 (As usual, my first mile is too slow but I'm half asleep when I first start)
Mile 2 - 12:59 (Last week I did not even break the 13mm so even though I'm already soaked, I know the run is going well)
Mile 3 - 12:44 (I continue to do my usual negative splits per mile. I had my first gu chomps here
Mile 4 - 12:26 (The sun is coming out and the heat is getting worse)
Mile 5 - 12:07 (I'm still running strong and take my second gu chomps here)
Mile 6 - 12:12 (I thought I would break 12mm by now but not really worried)
Mile 7 - 12:01 (I head back to the house to refill the water bottle. I already drank 20oz!)
Mile 8 - 12:24 (I got home at Mile 7.18 and I was under 12mm, but the stop and the start over damaged my pace. My shorts are already soaked and falling. I decide not to change my shirt yet. I ate 2 almond clusters and 8oz of water. I refill my 20oz bottle and off I go)
Mile 9 - 12:15 (Back on my previous paces although I never again see a sub 12mm on my Garmin)
Mile 10 - 12:11 (Still feeling strong but the heat is getting to me. I'm already thinking of walking. I stop to retie my shoe because my foot fell asleep)
Mile 11 - 12:18 (Since I had to stop somewhere in between Mile 10 and 11, this pace fell a little. I'm fighting the urge to walk)
Mile 12 - 12:18 (I've already decided to run by the house to refill the 20oz bottle prior to Mile 13 because it's almost empty and the heat is a killer by now. The sun is out and following me)
Mile 13 - 12:21 (Stop by the house and refill the water bottle. I also changed the shirt and eat 1 more almond cluster and drank another 8oz of water. I still feel strong and I know I'm going to finish but I realize I'm going to walk soon. I had a Hammer Gel and refill the bottle with Gatorade this time)
Mile 14 - 12:52 (Since there are no more shaded areas in my complex, I decide to go outside because what the heck, there's no shade anywhere. I start to run the T nearby and find a shaded part of it. I had to walk at Mile 13.64 for 0.11 miles)
Mile 15 - 13:22 (I thought about not walking but when I had to stop at a crosslight, I decided to walk for a bit, totaling 0.14)
Mile 16 - 13:37 (I walked for about 0.10 in this mile and even then I smashed last week 16's time)
Mile 17 - 13:45 (I walked two times in this mile for a total of 0.15. At mile 16.90 I said, no more walking and I took off)
Mile 18 - 12:29 (Even though I ran this last mile in full, you can tell how much the heat was affecting me since my pace was consistently between 12:15-12:20 before and now I cannot even break that. I put my favorite end of the run song (Lady Gaga Bad Romance) and smiled and sang all the way through since I felt strong and there was no doubt I would finish. The Gatorade was gone, all 20 oz of it)

Overall, even though I walked (and I don't usually), I felt this was one of my strongest runs ever. I was breathing hard, which is not good for a long run, but it's this darn heat. Winter, where are thou?



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Damaris' NYCM (FE and Race Report)

Image
Summary: On Sunday, I finished my 4th Marathon, the NYCM, the first of my season.  It was a great experience and I had tons of fun, I met tons of forumites, and I experienced how my marathon season may go if I don't get my asthma in check.  Even with that, I finished in 4:59:22, not a PR, but with a lot of insight as to how my lungs work. Novel: Chapter 1: The Training This was not a marathon I was planning or wanting to run, but my friend wanted me to enter the lottery and run with her (pacing her on her first) so I entered never believing I would get in.  So, of course I got in.  I had already planned to choose a high mileage intense training for the West Palm Beach Marathon (December 4), so all I needed to do was to organize my training so that I was already trained by the time I would get to NYCM and with enough time to recover until WPB. Since I was already doing 50mpw easily, and already averaging 40mpw in 2011, in June I made the decision to...
Read more

Surgery and Recovery

Image
 It's been a while, I know, and lots has happened since last I wrote my RR from London. A month or two before London, I started having issues with my right foot dragging while running. No pain or any indication that anything was wrong. Just before Easter, I had a run outside with hubby when I noticed my toe was feeling weird and when I turned the shoe, the whole big toe area had scraped off! It wasn't happening all the time by then, but this was the turnaround point of the issue. While it was happening once in a blue moon, now it started happening on and off during the runs. I only had two long run weekends left for London (back to back LRs on both days, like 16/12 and 18/14) and I still ran them well but shortened the run/walking to 30/30 seconds to accommodate the issue. And as you read, I finished London so success on that. The week before we left for London, I started seeing a chiropractor and PT for the issue. Both and many friends kept telling me that it was the back and ...
Read more

DTR Endurance 50K: In Which Docket Finally Runs an Ultra

Image
And apparently, because I need to keep my Bad Ass card, I decided to take on a very hard course, oops. After DNS'ing my first ultra last year for asthma reasons and after having to DNS that same ultra again this year because I had a kitty in the hospital and very ill, I signed up for the DTR Endurance 50K, a tough trail race in Stuart, Florida.  While the other ultras were road races, this one was going to be on a trail.  A trail I had never seen until today (the park is 2 hours away from home).  A trail that ended up being tougher than advertised, even though the RD did a great job warning us that it was a tough course and an adventure.  It was both, alright. As you know, I am going after more Maniac stars, so this race had to be official to count.  The only issue was that the race had an 8 hour limit and I was not sure I could finish it within that time.  The last trail HM I did was 2 years ago and I finished in 3:45 so I knew that if the race w...
Read more