Dear Running Gods,
I am sorry for whatever I did to make you angry. I am not quite sure what it was but I will do ANYTHING to make it right. I will do fartleks, hill repeats, speed work for a month a week once or twice to make you smile down upon me once again. Please stop making my ankles hurt and my legs feel like lead. Please let me run more than 10 miles without feeling like every step is agony. Make the soreness go away....just a little bit....so I will be able to walk after the race. Please.....I am begging you.
Love, Me
Today I was not the runner that I want to be. Today I wasn't even the runner that I usually am. Today was another hard run. It started slow and ended slower. It hurt. The last three miles were slow enough to get me swept at the Princess. That's all I could think of for the last 3 miles.....I am not fast enough. I'm never a speed demon, but today I was not fast enough for 3 miles.
I got up super early on this Saturday morning. I got dressed in two layers to ward off the 29 degree start. I had my usual pre-run breakfast. I drove 40 minutes to the Oceanfront to meet some other runners. (Just so you know, that was the last time I saw those other runners. They took off, ran fast, and were gone by the time I finished.) I knew that I couldn't even pretend to keep up with an 8:00 pace, so I just did my thing. The training plan had 14 miles for today. I was going to run 7 miles north and then 7 miles south for 14 miles. I got going. After 2 miles, the boardwalk ran out so I moved to the sidewalk. When that ran out, I moved to a feeder road. This was a new route that I hadn't even mapped out....I was following a pink jacket that was with the group I started with, but was way ahead of me. At just under 5 miles, the feeder road ran out too. I knew which direction I needed to go, but there was no sidewalk to take me there. The fast people had made the turn around 2 miles ahead and passed me again. Clearly they had been running on the side of the road....a road that is notorious for people getting hit by cars. I was all alone. I was not about to be a statistic, so I turned around at 5 miles. I knew that I had a little bit of room (probably a mile or so) at the other end of the boardwalk, so I figured I would make the lost distance up there.
At about 5 miles, my legs started to feel a little heavy. I lowered my running intervals from 3/1 to 2/1. I kept that up for about 2 more miles and then my legs felt like lead. I knew that if I was going to keep going, I had to walk more. I dropped the intervals to 1/1. I got back to the boardwalk and ran 40 blocks to the other end. I looked down at the Garmin and saw that I was only at 11 miles. At the end of the Boardwalk (over a few streets, but you get the idea) is a bridge over the inlet. I decided to add the hill. If Disney is going to make me run up and around an overpass at mile 11, I needed to practice a hill at mile 11 when the opportunity presented itself. I made my way from the Boardwalk to the road and got myself up and over that bridge.....and then up and over it again so I could get back to my car. I got back on the Boardwalk and ran the 18 blocks back to the street that would take me to my car.
Things I didn't do today:
- I didn't get to 14 miles. I stopped the Garmin at 13.1. There was just at a 1/2 mile from that point to my car. I didn't do 14, but I did do 13.6. Today we are going to round up.
- I didn't stick with my intervals. I dropped from 3/1 to 2/1 to 1/1.
- I didn't always start running when the watch beeped. There were lost of times that I just walked.
- I didn't keep pace. I was slow from the start and only got slower.
- I didn't stop moving. I may not have done my whole 14 miles, but I did over 13.1. I know now that my body can move forward for a half marathon. I can get across the finish line.
Things I did do today:
- I RAN A FREAKING HALF MARATHON. If I can do it here, then I can do it in Disney....and then again back in Virginia Beach.....and then in Washington DC. I can do this!
- I walked....a lot. I called my husband at mile 6 and then again at mile 11. I needed him to tell me that I was doing great and I could finish.
- I went over a bridge at mile 11 when my legs were tired.
- I tried Jelly Belly Sports Beans. They were DELICIOUS!!! They are my new favorite thing.
- I finished 13.1 miles in less than 3:30 (which is Disney's cut off time.) Even though I had 3 miles that were over pace, the other 10 miles were fast enough to keep me under pace overall. I am a little worried about my picture stops, so I am going to pick my top 3-4 MUST HAVE picture stops and save the rest for another year.
This was the last "long" run before the Princess. February 21 (the day we fly out!) can't come soon enough. I am ready!
Today's Stats:
13.1 miles in 3:14:04 (14.49 minute mile)
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