This blog is about my longest long run (in training for the Syracuse 70.3 and its included half marathon 13.1 miles).
Today after work I met up with my training partner and we hit the gravel trails of the Bobo Link/South Boulder Path and Marshal Rd. for a long run. The goal was 11-12 miles and to be honest I wasnt entirely excited about it. I've been biking hard lately and been feeling blah the last few Wed...actually thats an under statement. I stopped on my last 2 wed. runs, and as someone who has that never say die attitude, it was a huge confidence buster. That aside, you have to press on and learn from training failures and become that much more determined next time to push yourself to and beyond that level. Today Had the cards right.
This was my first long run of over 6 miles that I would be without water or a fuel plan, I was just going to go and take note of where I began to falter. Out of the gates I took it slow at about 7:30 to 8 min pace for the first 4 miles. At mile 3 I that familiar ghost had returned and I started to have stomach aches and eventually began to see halos. For a moment I thought this is it, im going to go down on my first practice. My next thoughts though did help. My taper starts next week and this was pretty much my last opportunity to get in a long run, and I already failed on a 7 mile run this week due to extream stomach cramping (which I then bounced back from and had the best 2 mile return pace of the year 6:30 flat!). So I pressed on while my partner began to break away from me. To add to this, for some reason I was feeling the affects of the altitude more today then I had in a while, possibly due to my hard training the last 2 weeks.
The course out is a gradual uphill and has always given me trouble making for a very uneven run. When we got to Marshall Rd, it was new territory for me, a road I had never run on and it was flat. At least for a little while, what happened next I have no explaination for. It was as if I had the best energy drink known to man at the right moment because when we made our next turn and were faced by a pretty substantial hill I instantly became the strong runner I set out to be today. I took the hill like it was the first 400m of the run, the ghost was gone. I was going to finish the run on a hot note.
The GPS had died and we were flying blind, so we went out 40 mins and thought that would be enough for over 11 miles. It ended up being 5.31... 7:35 pace. We turned around at a spot that at the time looked like a unique turn around mark (but later I couldnt find it as easily on google sat.). It was time for downhill, I kept that strong pace and even pushed harder in some spots. I caught up to Ky and we ran together until we had 3 miles to go. I broke away a little until 2 to go and then had a pace slow down (loss of focus?). With one mile to go I was praising myself for how strong I felt, I kept telling myself "Im ready." I even got up on my toes and had a stride out finish the last 600m. In all coming back in 6:34 pace and not really that shaken up from it, not really out of breath. My legs shaked as I drank some water and downed a gel... the return of Elvis.
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