Long run, 10 miles; 2:03:50; average heart rate 147; splits 11:12, 11:25, 10:56, 11:13, 11:33, 10:57, 14:23, 13:25, 13-ish, ?
WEEK 5; total miles 21 (3/5/3/10)
Weight 115, resting heart rate 48, fitness test 48
Uncharted territory! First 10-miler, first 20+ mile week, and a new loop for my long run. I’ve been looking forward to running this loop for a long time (go out our driveway and make all lefts, which is a 10 mile triangle!).
The day didn’t start out very auspiciously though. Because of something that came up, we ate very late & went to bed late, but I wanted to get an early start so woke up before 7am (hence higher resting heart rate & lower fitness test, I think) with a headache & not feeling particularly energetic. Getting ready took a long time. I was using Two Toms foot powder for the first time, and it had clumped (maybe I didn’t reseal the jar properly after opening it the first time?), so it felt like sand in my socks. I tried crushing the little pebbles with my fingers which took a long time and wasn’t very effective. (They did crush themselves during the run without hurting my feet; I’m not sure if the blister prevention was as effective as it could have been, though. Next time I’ll use a spoon and try to avoid the clumpy stuff on top, instead of just shaking the jar.) Then I discovered that my Forerunner was out of battery power. Last time I used it I’m sure it had 5 or 6 hours left, but maybe it got turned on accidentally. No way was I running without it! I put it in the cradle & tried to go back to sleep without much luck. I checked it in a little while & it said 3 hours (fine) then quickly dropped to 2 (iffy, but I decided to risk it). Must remember to charge it the day before a long run, no matter what!
Finally I got going at about 7:45am. A partially cloudy morning, on the cool side for summer. I felt a little loaded down with the Forerunner, the heart rate monitor, the Hydrobak (sloshing problem solved, and I got the straps adjusted as best they can be), and the waist pack with 2 energy gels. But I settled into a good rhythm and the run went well. There are hardly any houses at all on this loop, so it was very peaceful, but the terrain and vegetation are quite varied and different from my other routes. Lots of new wildflowers: purple-flowering raspberry (like in Montreal), monkey flower, snakeroot, boneset, tearthumb, lady’s thumb, spotted knapweed, chamomile, sow thistle, galinsoga, tick trefoil, wild bergamot, and a couple I couldn’t identify. I used the zippered pocket of my waistpack for samples, otherwise I’d never be able to remember so many!
I tried energy gels for the first time. I brought 2 and ate them at 4 miles and 8 miles. The first was a chocolate Powergel with caffeine. I was prepared to be revolted, since I hate sports drinks, but actually it was good! Yeah, the texture’s a little difficult to deal with, but it was pretty thick and not too slimy. I didn’t feel a sudden surge of energy or anything, but my pace didn’t flag and I continued to feel pretty good. My knees were stiffening around mile 5-6, but when I started to go uphill again that went away, so I think it’s the downhills that bring it on. (Not a good sign for Steamtown…) From mile 6 on was all uphill (that’s the 14 1/2 minute split! gosh!) The second energy gel was a Carb Boom! apple cinnamon. Kinda yuck–it didn’t taste too bad but not great and the texture was definitely worse than the Powergel. I definitely felt like I had to choke down the last few swallows.
Then, alas, the Forerunner’s battery ran out, so I had to guesstimate when I reached 10 miles (I think I overshot a little, if anything). My last split probably would have been around 14 minutes also, as it included the infamously steep hill up to our house. Looks like 600+’ difference between the highest and lowest points of this loop, according to the Forerunner data I did get–in 10 miles, as opposed to 900′ in the whole of the marathon course.
I didn’t feel wiped out physically when I got home, but after stretching/Cheerios/shower I took a nap and haven’t done much since. I don’t think I’d better expect too much of myself on long run days.
Hi Hilary,
That 10 miler wiped me out on Saturday as well. I fell asleep watching TV with my boys that afternoon. I just wanted to let you know that I am still reading and enjoying your blog.
Thanks for taking the time to do it.
-Kara
Hi Kara,
Thanks for the kind words! Good luck with your training.