Today's Long Run

It definitely qualified as that... LONG. I had a 19 miler scheduled today. Quite an eye-opener of a run. I got up a bit late at 8:00 a.m. after our evening out last night. I had actually awaken at 5:33 a.m and said a quick prayer for Marion who would be gearing up to run her Myrtle Beach Marathon in less than an hour from that time. I fell back asleep and awoke again at 6:10 a.m. and again, said a quick prayer for Marion, who was likely lining up for her race at that point. When I got out of bed at 8, I made some coffee and toasted a cinnamon raisin bagel and said a prayer for Tim who was under way in his Run the Reagan half marathon down in Georgia. Both of them did marvelously, Marion finishing her first marathon (26.2 miles) in a remarkable time of 4:06:00, and Tim shattering his sub-2 hour first time half marathon (13.1 miles) goal at 1:55:46! Way to go guys! I knew you'd both do well!

So, back to my 19 mile long run. I haven't had the best of weeks running and missed my 9 mile run on Friday because of having to head up for the concert right after work and a couple of my prior runs just felt miserable and left me feeling miserable, both physically and mentally. I didn't consider missing the 9 mile run a bad thing as I've been questioning the training value of having a mid-long run, often pace or tempo runs, the day before a long run. They have seemed to me to serve to just wear me out. I dunno.

I waited until I had gotten texted by Marion confirmation of her finish at her marathon before I headed out for my run. The first quarter of the run was going better than expected and physically, I felt better than I had anticipated so, I was quite optomistic starting out. The day was beautiful, temp about 24* with bright, sunshiny, clear blue skies, and minimal winds. I'll just copy my notes and my splits here (with peanut gallery comments to myself) from my running log:

Specs:
Length: 19 miles
Duration: 3:04:58
Avg. Pace/Mile: 9:45
Calories Burned: 2,633 according to Garmin
Weight starting run: 170
Weight at finish: 164.5 (after hydrating and eating)

Not a particularly good long run. Started out ok, maybe too fast for the distance which is why I suffered in the end of the "run" - I say that because the last 4 - 5 miles where more like a falling forward shuffle, hence the poor quality rating of the run overall. I basically utilized the Galloway run/walk method a couple of times in this run and I also stopped at the fire station at mile 16.20 to pee, ate some mini candy coated kisses left over from movie night the night before (they did not sit very well), and got some water. Everything from my abdomen down hurts. My knees are throbbing, my low back is all jambed up, my left hip is a mess, and my legs and feet are just generally trashed. By far the hardest run I have had to date. I hope the quality of these runs improve or I would think I am in serious trouble.

Splits:
1: 9:12 - entirely too fast dummy!
2: 9:21 - more in the realm of reality, but still too fast
3: 9:26 - starting to realize I have a LONG way to go
4: 9:33 - yea, you ain't as tough as you think
5: 9:38 - getting there
6: 9:41 - now you're about where you should have started, doofus
7: 9:39 - good consistent pacing
8: 9:32 - ooh, that gel was good, thinkin' you're all tough again
9: 9:42 - this is a long run
10: 9:44 - should have tried to have this as consistent pacing for the run from the start
11: 9:52 - see, I told you you went out too fast
12: 10:32 - had to walk a bit now did we?
13: 9:50 - took another gel and water on this mile
14: 9:38 - gel make um feel better, I cans run faster
15: 9:45 - that didn't last long
16: 9:59 - maybe you ought to think about this range for consistent pacing next long run
17: 10:21 - feelin' hammered again, eh? Thank goodness the fire station was on this mile
18: 9:50 - just finish
19: 9:43 - pass Kathy runnin' Meeka on her first mile of 4, she's all fresh and crap asking brightly and cheerfully how many I have to go as I feebly raise one finger and mutter "one", she gives me the rock as I shuffle by her springy-steppin' self

The upsides: 1. I finished! Thought about bagging the run at mile 9 - the first time I passed by our road and, 2. It was an absolutely gorgeous day - clear blue sky, sunny, and cool, with light winds and no better way to spend it since the rest of the fam was doin' other things.