This employment interlude which started mid March has been a boon for my running. I’m not officially training for a specific run, but I have been increasing my distance and working on my pace. A side benefit is I’ve lost a few of those midlife pounds I put on. My weight has consistently stayed in the 179-182 range in May and June after being about 195 around Christmas.
Over the past ninety days I have increased my distance at least once a week starting at about 8 miles. On Monday I ran a full half marathon distance for the first time. It covered Richmond Beach, Woodway and much of Edmonds including climbing out of the Edmonds bowl on mile 11. I started out too fast, as if I were racing. My splits for the first six miles ranged from 8:14 to mile 6 at 8:53. If I were in shape the way I want to be mile 6 would have been flat out my first or second fastest mile because it is mostly downhill or flat. instead I was already feeling drained like my reserves were low.
The seventh and eighth miles are slightly up hill and I ended up literally stopping for a moment at 6.9 miles and 7.9 miles to catch my breath. I had a planned water stop at Starbucks on Main Street in Edmonds but due to route adjustments I didn’t get their until 9.7 miles. So miles 7 through 10 splits ranged from 9:28 to 9:59. I use the pause feature on my Runkeeper app at Starbucks so essentially I cheated. But I always do this cheat so at least I’m consistent. At Starbucks I have a routine, I go in and use the toilet (cuz I need to pee) and I use the self service water station. It’s a big water cooler with ice. I try to hydrate before I run so I have yet to figure out a way to avoid needing to pee after 90 minutes of running.
After Starbucks I was feeling a bit refreshed and as I ran into a headwind was surprised to actually momentarily feel chilled. But as mile 11 became the uphill grade out of Edmonds into Woodway I felt myself dead tired, sorta like when I was in poor shape a few years ago. I just did not have any calories left to burn so there were a few moments of walking and then trotting so that my splits for mile 11 and 12 were 11:35 and 11:49, no longer a runner, just a putz jogger. I have trained the hill out of Edmonds consistently and generally can keep a pretty solid pace, so this is just a case of it being miles 11 and 12 versus miles 6 and 7. I need to figure a calorie replenishment strategy. The good news is that mile 13 was under 10 minutes. Probably that’s the horse heading to the barn syndrome.
So, at least I accomplished my goal of running a half marathon. I think I will sign up for the Rock ‘n Roll half marathon this July. I’m ready. But when I look at how drained I was, I really am intimidated about the prospect of ever running a marathon. How do they do that? I know that goal is at least a year away if I want to run it rather than walk it.
My final stats for Monday’s run are 13.21 miles, 2:06:05, for a 9:33 pace. According to Runkeeper I burned 1915 calories. I think if I were in an actual event or running with others I would have done a bit better, but I need to not start out with an 8:14 pace. More like 8:45 and keep it consistent.
Friday Update: The Rock n Roll Half marathon is Saturday! I signed up for it For the Rock n Roll Half Marathon my goal is 1:56 which is close to a 9:00 pace. This seems doable as I will have water and a couple places where I can get glucose. Overall course is flatter than what I have been running and I have not been running since Monday.