It's all coming back to me now. Spending Saturday afternoon in bed because I can't walk. Being so hungry I could eat a horse. Cramps. Aches. Pains. It's the Saturday long run, now showing at a theater near you.
I finally got that 15 miler in that I was supposed to do last weekend. Actually, it was 15.75 which comes awful close to 16 in some people's log books. I got a very civilized start at around 8 am. I wanted to start a lot earlier but for some reason my alarm clock was on PM and not AM. At least I was rested.
All went well. I did a modified River Oaks plus GRB route, then back the long way to the tennis center. The modification to the River Oaks leg took me down a couple of wrong turns. It was nice though. What a beautiful part of Houston. The lawns and flowers were in peak shape and the homes are so beautiful. I'm kind of glad I got lost a bit. I saw some areas I'd never seen before. The deeper you get into River Oaks, the more beautiful and BIG the homes seem to get. Oh, and the GRB leg wasnt' quite to GRB. I turned around at the Sabine bridge after a drink and a Gu.
I made it to Shepard and Kirby feeling GREAT!!! I decided on the out that I would take a little different approach to the hills than I usually do. I'm usually shuffling up even the slightest incline, maintaining my effort to the top. Today, I attacked those hills. No, not a sprint but just a strong push up, maintaining my pace all the way. It really felt good but I ended up paying for it during miles 14-15.
Another familiar feeling that I havent' experienced since January 14th was the urge to just quit. I was really feeling it by the time I got to the Memorial loop. I resisted the urge to run the short leg back to the tennis center and headed on around the long way, sticking to the plan. I'm glad I did. I've cut too many runs short since January and it was a good feeling to finish one.
Here are the stats:
Total distance - 15.75 miles
Total time - 3:47:52
Splits - 14:26 / 14:06 / 13:47 / 14:37 / 14:24 / 14:22 / 14:25 / 14:23 / 13:56 / 14:17 / 13:43 / 15:20 / 15:04 / 14:50 / 15:12 / 10:52 (15:00 pace)
Average pace - 14:29
8 comments:
Congrats on the long run Vic it takes alot of mental fotitude when you are out by yourself. Matt W.....
Great job on the long run! I can't wait until I can run that far (a long run for me is still 4 miles). I found your blog through a link on the Runner's World forums -- do you mind if I link to you?
(I need all the support I can get!)
Don't mind at all, Rebecca. Keep up the good work. I was right where you are just less than a year ago.
Training for spring marathons around here is funny. Can be tough to find people to do long runs with, but the training weather is brilliant.
Steeeve
Way to go on your LR Vic! I agree with you on letting the watch run..we have potty stops during marathons too and the clock there never stops ticking. Keep up the great work!
Way to go on your LR Vic! I agree with you on letting the watch run..we have potty stops during marathons too and the clock there never stops ticking. Keep up the great work!
Saturday was a great day to do a long run! Way to get it in!
Vic, super job on the long run, and Saturday here in Houston was awesome! I can so relate to the soreness you were talking about. I did the Austin Marathon 2 weeks ago and it was a few days before I could go up and down my stairs again easily. By the way, thank you again for going to my web site and linking your blog. It has now grown to bloggers in 36 states and 20 other countries. Keep up the good work!
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