This is a first for me...I hit 100 miles in a month. After my run tomorrow...105!
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SO excited! I hit 100 miles for the month of April! As you can see...that is an ALL TIME high for me!
So excited! |
The 18 miler from yesterday really upped that number. It was a hard run for me. I started at 9AM and it was a beautiful morning...3 miles in, it was HOT HOT HOT! Not the kind of weather I wanted for my 1st 18 miler. I only had my 12 ounce hand held and I was out by mile 8. Luckily there was a gas station at mile 10 to fill up...and it was refreshing cold water...water never tasted so good! I was already pretty tired at this point and it was baking hot. I told myself that starting at mile 12 I would try out the Run/Walk thing. I started out running for 5 minutes and walking for 1 minute...but found myself liking the 4/1 ratio better. It added a little bit of time to my pace, but I think that in the heat if I didn't have those 1 minute walk breaks that I would have felt pretty bad. Here are my splits from the miles where I did the walk/run:
Mile 12: 10:17
Mile 13: 10:36
Mile 14: 11:16 (Big Hill)
Mile 15: 10:43
Mile 16: 10:39
Mile 17: 11:09
Mile 18: 10:44
I am definitely going to try this run/walk on my 20 miler to see if it makes a difference. The overall pace of my 18 miler was 10:27 which was right on what I wanted. But I couldn't imagine doing a whole more 8 miles and keeping that average pace. Guess we will see in a few weeks! Anyone else feel really doubtful that they could complete a marathon at this point in their training...I had serious doubts yesterday!
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Totally do the run/walk for your 20. It makes a HUGE difference. Zoe and I didn't use it for our 16 and we were hurting pretty bad by the end. We used it for our 18 and we felt like we could've made the 18 a 20-miler (or more!) if we wanted to.
ReplyDeleteThe minute of walking doesn't take that much away from your time, and most importantly, will help keep you from getting injured before your marathon! If you're really concerned about time, I think I read on Jeff Galloway's site that the walk portion only takes away about 15 seconds from your mile pace. And, I'm sure you know this, but just a reminder (I sound like a total mom), long runs are supposed to be slower than what you plan to run in the race. The idea is to get your body used to be running for a loooooong time. :D
Also, heat makes a huge difference. HUGE. Especially as the seasons are transitioning. Zoe and I start at 7 a.m. and we get warm (and it is not even close to being warm yet in Seattle - yesterday's high was like 48 or something!).
Good run! Way to stick through it and find something that worked for you!
No one feels ready for 26.2 after a training run, it's normal :)
ReplyDeleteI got beat by a guy doing the run/walk thing for a marathon, so it's possible to be competitive and still walk.
@ Kerrie
ReplyDeleteDo you think running the first 10 and then doing R/W for the last 10 miles would be good? I was scheduled to do my 18 miler at PMP+30 sec (which would be about 10:30-10:45 min/miles) so I hit my target pace :)I think I am supposed to do the same for my 20 miler, but I need to double check that. Thanks for you imput! :)
That is awesome! I can't even fathom doing 100 miles in a month!
ReplyDeletejust found your blog and i LOVE it! congrats on your all-time high! : )
ReplyDeleteWow, 18 miles! That's great! Although I have never done a full marathon, I did do the 4:1 run/walk for a half marathon and beat my previous half marathon time.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to hear how your next long run goes. You're doing awesome!