Here I am, folks. Right smack in the middle of marathon training. This means I’m now moving into new territory. Until last Saturday, the longest I had run was 13.1. Twice. Then last Saturday called for a long run of 15. I’ll be completely honest with you. That number intimidated the living crap out of me. Perhaps that mental psyche-out had something to do with the COMPLETE AND TOTAL SUCKFEST that took place Saturday morning. It was a horribly pathetic excuse for a run. The first ten were OKAY, but at 11.5, my legs said to me, “Okay, that’s it, we’re done.” I had to do a run-one-minute-walk-one-minute thing just to get home. I ended up at 14 miles and won’t even embarass myself by telling my overall pace. Let’s just say it wasn’t pretty and there were tears. Oh, yes, there were tears.
But after the initial emotion and disappointment passed, I felt better. I knew that I had just come off of an awesome long run the weekend before. Obviously I didn’t forget how to run over the course of a week. It was just a bad run. It seems I’m getting into quite the pattern! For the life of me, I cannot have two good long runs in a row. I’ve been in this every-other-week pattern for quite a while now. That just means I’m due for a good 16-miler this weekend!
I was also told by my awesome friend, running mentor, and Vegas running partner that it’s time to up the daily calorie intake, so I’ve been working on that this week.
And what a difference three days and a few extra calories can make! After taking off Sunday and Monday, I put up a solid eight miles tonight at a 10:34 pace (which is really good for me), and it felt spectacular. I can’t say that I was looking forward to going out for eight miles after working all day, but once I got out there and got going I thoroughly enjoyed it.
And THAT’S the way it SHOULD be!
herbie on the run 
Hope the next one goes better. I had some rough ones in that 14-15 mile range too. Once I figured out that I couldn't just occasionally sip a little water along the way, mine started going better (G2 and GU Chomps are my preference but everyone will be different).
LikeLike
Sorry that you had a bad run… I think it was my 14 miler that had tears involved too! It happens, but the bad runs just make you appreciate the good ones that much more!
I did 8 after work yesterday and it was nice…
LikeLike
Glad that you are felling better, some days are good and some days are bad. It does take some getting used to doing longer runs than you are accustomed to as well. Keep up the good work!
LikeLike
I have to say you don't SOUND like a first timer! You sound like a veteran. NO worries!
LikeLike
We ALL have our bad runs. In fact, on some of those tough runs I question why I even run in the first place. Then a week later I have one of the best runs of my life!
Best of luck with the rest of your training!
LikeLike
totally agree that the long run is all mental! Now that you know you can go farther, it will help make it less scary.
glad the rest of the week is going well
LikeLike
Great job on the awesome eight miler AND on the sucky 14! You pushed through for an awful 2.5 miles. That's more than most would have done! I take bad runs as learning experiences.. and take them in stride because they make me appreciate the good runs that much more!
LikeLike