Saturday I ran 14 miles. The plan was to run four outside
and finish up the last ten on the treadmill so hubby could get to work on time.
Too bad the rain started before five am. I could hear it hitting the tin roof
and I knew that all 14 miles would be logged on the treadmill. I have a love-hate
relationship with my treadmill. I love it! It is an absolutely blessing and I’m
no longer a slave to hubby’s work schedule OR the crazy New Orleans weather! I
hate it because it is so darned boring to run on.
Two weeks ago, I was scheduled to run 12 miles while being
home visiting family. I had a plan to run it on Sunday, 10/6. For some reason I
thought I could squeeze 12 miles into the craziness known as my brother’s
wedding. As you can guess, my plan was an epic fail. The combination of jet
lag, staying up too late and having a tad too much to drink at the reception meant all I could think about the next morning was a big, fat, greasy
cheeseburger. I did hop on my brother’s treadmill a few days later but it was
too late in the afternoon to pull off all 12 miles, so I logged six.
Having skipped those 12 miles, I knew I had to
approach the impending 14 with caution. I started of WAY slower than usual and
gradually increased the speed. I never ran faster than 5.3. I am still working
on walk breaks when on the treadmill. I started off thinking I’d walk every
four miles when I took my gels. After the first four miles, I realized that I
was incredibly tired and struggling physically and mentally. Then I decided
that walking every two miles could get my through. By the time I reached the
halfway point, I knew I was going to have to walk every mile. So I ran .9 miles
and walked .1 until the last two when all I wanted to do was cut off my legs at
the knees and be done. I finished all fourteen miles and am incredibly proud of
myself for not quitting like I wanted to. I tried to not let this crappy run
discourage me too much. That is what happens when you skip a long run.
Thankfully, I don’t have anything on the horizon that will cause the miss of
another long run.
My next long distance will be 17 miles and that is a very
daunting number. The farthest I have ever run is 15. I will continue to work on
my treadmill walk breaks knowing that on race day I will maintain a 4:1 ratio.
Run four minutes, walk one minute. I’d love to be able to negative split this
race (something I have never been able to do since I blow my wad in the first
half of each race), but I will focus on finishing. It is my first full marathon
and all I want to do is cross that finish line!
Lesson learned: don’t skip your long run!
It's a great day for running y'all!
