Redemption

For a variety of reasons I had to do my long run this week on a weekday morning. Scott is out of town so the only time I have to exercise is when the kids are in school. I usually fit it in by getting up early to work and then taking an hour off in the morning or at lunch to go to the gym or run outside. I am glad that I have a job with flexible hours so that I can do this.

My training schedule called for a long run of 11 miles this week, but I wanted to go farther to redeem the not-so-great race I had two weeks ago. I set off in the morning shortly after 8 a.m. after I dropped the kids off at school.

So how did it go? BOOYAH! I had a satisfying 14 mile run, which provided a redemption of sorts after the disappointing half marathon a few weeks ago. I had been psyching myself up for this run mentally for a few days and I am pleased that it went well. I finished in approx. 2 hours 15 minutes, which is an appropriate time for a slower-paced long run.

What worked:

* Being in the right frame of mind. I was excited mentally and that made all the difference. Instead of doubting whether I could continue further, I gave myself pep talks every couple of miles about how good it would feel to have a successful run.
* Running three miles around our neighborhood before getting on my regular running route for the rest. When I headed south towards the Katy Trail (my regular route) it almost felt like I was starting from scratch rather than having done three miles already.
* Staying slow. I'm pretty sure going out too fast was a big contributor to my less than successful race, so I really made an effort to go slow and stay slow, especially at the beginning. Even without a watch to time myself, I am fairly confident that I ran negative splits and I felt peppy enough to do some short sprints from about mile 12 onwards.

What I need to improve on:

* Remembering the body glide! Major chafing after the run, wowza that shower hurt a bit afterwards. Note to self: even when it is not a race, any run in the double digits should include body glide.
* Changing my shoes. I started feeling mild plantar fasciitis symptoms around half-way through and my foot is a bit sore today. I think it is because I have worn these shoes for too many miles and I need to change them. I bought new ones two weeks ago but have been too lazy to lace them up and break them in.

What now? First step, buy a watch with a timer! I told myself that buying a cheap watch would be my "reward" after this run so that's on the to-do list this weekend. Since I always map out my runs and know the mile distances in advance, I don't need a fancy Garmin to tell me things like distance, time per mile, etc. I am aiming for a cheap $20 stopwatch so that I can finally have a more accurate idea of pace as I advance through a long run.

What else? Keep training! The distances are only going to get longer and I need to psych myself up for having successful runs of more than 14 miles. I'll do mid-distance runs and shorter speedwork sessions the rest of the time that Scott is gone and then resume longer runs after Thanksgiving.