saturday's long/quality run was excellent! i was overdue for a long run and preferably a good one. i sure didn't disappoint. (garmin on the other hand... died before mile 20. that's ok, i like wearing $350 blank watches for fun.)
after some craptacular long run attempts previously, i headed out for today's run with positive thoughts. due to the lack of remotely lit-streets here in kentucky, i waited until just when the sun was rising to head out. i didn't want to be hit by a car, especially since i was going to be running on a 4-lane divided highway. finally, a little before 7am, i headed out.
ah, the exciting road before me.throughout the run, i had various thoughts and songs enter my mind as i chugged along, but two songs that continually came to mind were travis tritt's "great day to be alive" and phil vassar's "just another day in paradise". i was definitely working the positive vibes! (i never listened to country music before, but these ridiculously early commutes require something less headache-inducing than my usual hip-hop jams. plus, something about the sticks of kentucky give me a country vibe i guess.)
i took my fuel belt hand-held water bottle, 4 vanilla bean gu's (ate 3), a pack of orange gu chomps, $10, iphone, and some mace. (i don't run with my phone normally, but j wasn't comfortable with the idea of me running along a highway alone. i took the mace after reading about the woman who was attacked down in georgia not long ago.)
the plan for the day was: 8 miles easy, 8 miles marathon pace, 1 mile threshold, 4 miles mp, 1 mile threshold, 1 mile mp; 23 miles total. i had a super slow start with mile 1, but then my body remembered how to run. marathon pace is still kind of in the air, but i am getting closer to figuring it out. when i began nyc training 18-weeks ago i was *way* too ambitious. i think that hurt me a little with training harder than my body should be pushed at times, but i'm going to settle in with my reassessed goals for this final phase of training.
all went well and according to plan - until mile 11. then garmin beeped "battery low". what the crap. that mile was a little too fast as i as mad at garmin for making a product with piss poor battery life. it continued to beep at me as i ran along. i'm glad it lasted for almost 9 more miles after the first "low battery" warning, because i don't know that i would've had the mental toughness to continue with the goal paces. it's too comforting to be able to look down and see what your pace is and know what adjustments need to be made at any time during a run.
i kinda messed up the plan for the run -- i ran 9 miles mp (instead of 8) and then 1 mile threshold, but i don't think that's a bad thing. then i got in two more miles at mp before garmin kicked the bucket. thankfully i had my phone on me so i checked the time when garmin died and again when i got back to the hotel for a rough estimate of how long the last 2.7 miles took (mapped out upon return). based on the estimate i was in the slower end of goal mp range, but who knows.
saturday (9/19) am run: 22.71 miles, 3:04:23 (avg pace 8:07), avg hr (161), 64-70*
thank goodness i switched it up and did my long run saturday as sunday i woke to pouring rain and t-storms all morning. when the storms let up mid-afternoon, i headed out for a short recovery run in the 900% humidity. not quite as pleasant.
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