4/23 Long Run

I'd pretty much decided that I'd go for 8 or 9 (one loop around the Lake, then up to the bridge and back), but was strongly considering doing 14-15 (2 loops, plus) to make up for skipping my run on Wednesday (darn work interfering with my lunch run, and not wanting to run in the dark) , and then I could still take Friday off, saving myself for the long run pair on Saturday and Sunday (probably up to 12 on Sat, 18 on Sun). Not only that it's been slowish at the office (for me), and I'm occasionally suffering from a busted 'giveadamn' so...

Hooked up with Blake from our team and we ran and chatted till he turned around 1.5 miles to keep it short and continue trying to take care of his knee. It was really pleasant out, even with Weather.com telling us it's 45ish. Gloves were welcome, but not absolutely necessary. Handheld, with 2 GUs in the pouch.

Garmin lost his signal to the satellites about a mile in to the run for no obvious reason. That was a little frustrating. I'm glad I've run this route before since getting the signal back put the data points all over the place and added .3 to the loop.

Brain finally kicked in on the first lap and made me realize that I wasn't exactly well equipped for a long run, what with having 2 GUs and only one bottle. So... where can I refill... Found a couple of prospects on the first lap, but decided to hoard the last half of the first bottle till I could find a refill.

First lap was around 1:08 (11:09/mile). Nothing spectacular, but not unexpected given this new low HR pace.

Found a spigot in front of one of the marinas at about mile 7 and refilled the bottle. Heart rate started going up and walk breaks started increasing around mile 8. Started feeling my legs a little there too. Waited till mile 9 for a GU, with the theory that since I only have 2 I'll want a second if I continue past 2 laps, and if I don't then I only have one, and I don't have to worry about the calories. :) The wheels never came off, but they got wobbly starting here and stayed that way. The pace started getting progressively slower.

Second lap took around 1:15 (12:18/mile).
Total for the two laps 2:22:42 (11:43/mile) @ 140 bpm.

Walked for a minute or so while I reset the Garmin and sucked down the last GU and then started a slow run/walk sequence out to the Aurora Bridge and back for the last 3 miles. This was one of those segments that made me really consider my sanity for wanting to run ultras in the future though. :)

3.1 miles in 39:20 (12:41/mile) @ 140 bpm

Total for the run: 15.3 miles in 3:03:14 (11::59/mile).
I really hope getting my mileage back up there and this low HR training starts working because this 12:00/mile crap is for the birds. Not only that it seems to affect my ability to do basic math, since I should have been at work after 2 laps and not 3 hours. Ah well. At least it's been slowish for me.

OK, I missed taping my nipples, my legs were more tired than I thought since I manged to kick the crap out of my ankles again for the first time in months, and I didn't fuel of hydrate adequately. But how effing cool is it that I was just able to run 15 on what was, essentially, the spur of the moment? I'm a little sore, probably residual from being sick last week, but nothing problematic at all.

On a related note, while this run didn't qualify as a long run by mileage (I think the accepted convention is that 16+ is a long run. :)), I say that 3 hours makes this a long run. :)

Thanks to time constraints, I'm considering dropping my midweek medium long run (normally Wednesday is 8-9) and adding another day during the week instead. I'd still be able to get the total mileage in, and it would be easier to squeeze out at lunch. The longer midweek run has some benefits supposedly, so I probably need to look at that some more before I make the call.

Thanks a bunch for the comments about the complications with RnR Seattle. We'll have to wait till next week to see what the official answer is. If it's what my pessimistic/fatalistic prediction is, then we'll try it anyway at the expo. If that doesn't work I'll find another race. And as Val points out whether I run RnR Seattle or not it's not like it affects how I'm going to run mileage and speed wise anyway. I'm trying to build a good base in general, and I'm going to do this damn lower HR training if it drives me up a wall. So...