Don't Do What I Did

So I am still training as if I will do the Louisville Half Marathon on November 3rd.  I forget what I did Monday and Tuesday, but I know one of those days was a rest day.  Wednesday I did a tempo run that was 1 mile warm up, 2 miles speedy, 1 mile cool down.  Thursday was Kettle Bells, Friday was a 3 mile run, and then today I ran EIGHT.

So let's back up:

5:45 AM: take my dad to the airport
8 AM: eye doctor appointment
9:30 AM: eat a bagel with TJ's peanut butter in hopes of starting my run soon
10:45 AM: head back to bed because I am exhausted
12:30 PM: wake up
1:30 PM: start my run

As you can see, I started my run with nothing on my stomach as I had eaten that bagel four hours ago, and I was still groggy.  Fifteen minutes beforehand I ate a Gu (I like the Chocolate Outrage) and took another with me.  Running eight miles in my neighborhood isn't difficult because there are so many route options, but I wanted to minimize hitting hills.

Starting out I felt fine, and after my Garmin chimed that I had hit mile one, I told myself that I only needed to hear that chime seven more times.  Not too long after that I found that I was needing to pump myself up mentally.  A few miles later, I was feeling unmotivated and I really wanted to stop, but I pushed on.

At about the 5.5 mile mark I stopped at a water fountain and ate my other Gu.  Usually I can eat a Gu while running, but I felt a little nauseated so I ate it while standing still.  Because of where I was, I knew that I was going to have to hit some hills to not only reach the eight mile mark but also to get home.  Pushing on, I entered the Cherokee Park loop and took my pace way down for the last two complete miles.

Overall, the last four miles were difficult and especially after I took that break.  My legs were tired, but mind was even more tired.  Running is truly both a physical and mental test!  Running such a long distance without a friend and without music was so hard.  Fortunately, I think I will have a running buddy for next weekend!

The upside of the run was that my overall pace was 9:30 flat.  That is exactly where I want to be so I was thrilled to see that number on my Garmin.

So the moral of my story, or at least my plan moving forward?  Knock out the long runs first thing in the morning and don't do it without something on the stomach and/or don't do it alone and/or don't do it without music.  Seems like I should know this already, right?

Speaking of music, I wanted to share a song I've run to a lot over the past couple of months.  It's "Masquerade" by Nicki Minaj.



Let the training continue.  Let's hope it's all good runs from now on!