I still am a relative newcomer to the 10+ mileage club. But I've run enough 12-13 milers now to feel comfortable with that distance. I've only run one time beyond that, and it wasn't all that successful. I'm cautiously optimistic that I've set myself up properly for a successful completion of this next step up.
The plan:
Report:
Finished. Success! I covered the distance in 2hrs 22 mins, not counting a 10-minute stop at San Dieguito Park for water and to let the start of the San Dieguito Half Marathon clear the road. I didn't want to be accused of being a bandit. The only way to have beaten the racers onto that stretch of El Camino Real would have been to skip the water and press on; but I knew I'd have 4 more miles before the next water stop and I'd already gone almost 4 since the last one. So I did the prudent (and more fun) thing: I stopped and mixed with the throng piling up for the start. It made me jealous. I'm definitely going to enter this one next year.
The run I did measured out to 16.7 miles or about 28.9K. Much of the route was great, but there were some sections that I wouldn't run again because of hazards. There was one major uphill grade along most of mile 8 that really tested me. Worse, there was almost no shoulder to the road so I couldn't just put my head down and pump. I had to keep my wits. Overall, though, the route was mostly flat or downhill, losing about 600' of elevation over the course of the first 14 miles. I think I did a pretty good job of maintaining a comfortable pace, trying to stick to a schedule of 9-minutes per mile. My final time works about to an 8:30 pace, which was too fast but I was strong enough today to complete the whole thing. That 10-minute intermission, I think, did the trick. If I add that time interval into my total time, my pace works out to a 9:06/minute average. I'm happy with that.
According to the training guides, my long run training pace should be a minute or more per mile slower than my expected marathon pace. I don't know if that means I should expect to run my marathon faster (yeah right) or that I should slow my LSD runs down to 10-minute miles. I'm not even sure I know what 10-minutes/mile feels like. I felt like I was going slow today. Except for the hills, my HR stayed pretty much between 70-80% all day.
The last 2 miles were the hardest. Besides being uphill, I was starting to feel the stress on my leg muscles, mostly around the calf and ankles. Quads and hams felt okay.
After taking into account the weight due to clothing, I figure I only lost half a pound during the entire run. The weather was mostly cool and I didn't sweat too, too much and I think I kept myself well hydrated. To only be 0.5 lbs short at the end was good news. We had a big breakfast at the Potato Shack, and now I just have to see if I retain fluids as the day wears on.
I'll probably leave commentary on the route itself until later, or just post it on MapMyRun.com. I feel very good about having finished this. But even more than that, I enjoyed it while I was running it. For years, I had been seeing active people riding, skating, rolling, jogging Hwy 101 along the north county coastal towns and wished I could be one of those people. Today I was.
