First >13 Mile Run Since the Marathon?

I try never to get complacent, but I admit I anticipated today's scheduled 13.5er to be not too hard.  I mean, I ran the AFC Half Marathon with little preparation and even though I kinda loafed, I covered the distance at a comfortable 8:15 pace without much difficulty.  I should be in better condition than I was in August, and today's pace was going to be slow, slow, slow.  No sweat, right?

First off, it's raining.  Not bad, but wet ground and a spritzing kind of rain.  Cool temps, no wind...which ought to be good.  But it canceled out the trail run through Hodges north shore.  Returned to the old standby: Lake Miramar since the perimeter road is paved. 

Walked the first mile, doing a few step drills to get the muscles and joints warmed up.  Began the real workout at the 2nd mile post.  Started out just a little too fast, but was able to pull it back from the 2nd mile onward, concentrating on trying to keep HR under 130.  I kept an eye on the quarters and figured my pace was steady within a range of 8:30-8:45/mile.  That's a little quicker than I had planned, but if it works, so be it.  I felt comfortable and easily slow enough for an LSD run.

I grabbed my water bottle with Ultimate electrolyte drink off my car as I passed the parking lot after the first lap, not stopping for any kind of rest.  The bottle is only 10oz., so I knew I was putting myself behind my water curve.  Dehydration and cardiac drift would edge my HR up into the high 130s and low 140s during the 2nd lap (miles 5-9).  Around mile 8-9, I was starting to feel the affects of the left ankle weakness and could tell I was altering my gait.  The domino effect is that my left hip and right knee were starting to feel some twinges of pain.

Slowing down didn't help to moderate the heart rate and actually made the running stride feel like more work.  So I just kept up with what I think is at the low end of my potential marathon pace.  I stopped for 20 seconds and the parking lot to fill the water bottle and pressed on for the final lap.

The next 3 miles (10-12) were hard.  Not hard for the heart and lungs, but the feet and legs (and left side of the abs) were straining.  I'm sure the interval work on Friday had deadened my leg strength, even though I avoided all leg exercise on Saturday.  Along mile 13, it actually started to concern me as I was feeling aches and pains that weren't the sort I thought it prudent to ignore and try to run through.  So, as I went through one of the coves, I thought about how much further I had to go and decided I'd better walk a bit and see if I can recovery some leg freshness.

I broke out the Power Bar, finished the water (now only 20 ozs. consumed to this point) and tried to get bouncy again.  I think I was walking for about 2 minutes.  I started to jog again, and felt a lot better.  At the next mile post, with a mile to go to 14, I stepped out and started running.  I felt great.  I got my HR up to 160, but it actually felt so much better to put forward a quicker, longer stride.  I timed myself over the final mile and did 7:44, which would be a half marathon pace I'd be very happy with. 

I drank another 20ozs. of water after completion and walked around for about 15 minutes.  I couldn't tell if I was drenched from sweat or rain.  Even though just 30 minutes earlier I wasn't digging things, I felt great once the run was over and after finishing strong. I was only supposed to do 13.5, but I don't think the extra 1/2 mile hurt.  In fact, I felt better after 14.0 than I did when I had to take a walk break at 12.5.

Drank my EAS protein mix, ate some grapes, and then drove over to Laces where I talked to Clarence about the workout.  I've come to the decision, with Clarence's concurrence, to take tomorrow off from running and give the ankle an extra day of rest.  Dropping 3 easy miles from the weekly plan shouldn't make a difference, even though I'd like to keep building my weekly mileage.  But I'd rather take a slight cut back rather than risk continuing to aggravate the joint and putting myself in a hole.

I'll do some good stretching for the rest of the day and try some ice, elevation and massage to get myself ready for Tuesday.  I'll get back in the pool on Monday and work on my core a little in the weight room.  The ankle notwithstanding, I think I'm on track.  With a proper taper, I'm sure 13-14 miles today at almost goal  marathon pace wouldn't have been too hard at all.  Whether or not I graduate to 15 or so next week remains to be seen.