Bring It On, Half Marathon!!

I reached a new distance PR today! :)

Today was my last planned long run before my half marathon in 13 days (Sept 27th). My goal today was to do around 12 miles.

Last week, I was debating whether I would do 12 or 13 miles as my longest run and many of you gave me some awesome input and offered your own personal experiences.

Many of you said that 12 miles is typically the longest run in most half marathon training plans so that is what you did. Others also said that it isn’t necessary to run the full race distance because really what difference does 1 mile make when you are racing? Probably not much.

Some of you also said that you want your race to be the first time you have ever run that distance so it is automatically a new PR.

Others said that you try to run the race distance just so you know what to expect and you know that you can do it. It is sort of a confidence builder in this respect!

So when I set out today I told myself that I would shoot for 12 miles. I knew I was running the Murder Hill route and because it involves so many intense hills, I didn’t want to push it. Plus, my half marathon course is mostly flat, so if I can do these intense long training runs, I know I can run a flat course.

Eric was such a sweetheart and dropped off 2 water bottles along my route (on his way to work this morning). The only water I have been bringing with me is a pathetic 5 oz bottle which does not give me enough water by any means. Today I had two 500 ml bottles planted at pre-determined spots along my route. What a guy! :)

I really looked forward to the water bottles when I approached their locations. The first one was at about mile 3.75 and I drank about 1 cup and carried it with me until about mile 6 when I polished it off. I was actually surprised because the water bottle wasn’t as difficult to carry as I expected it to be.

But man oh man, did I ever notice a difference in my energy with being properly hydrated!!! It was like night and day. I felt so strong and fast on these hills. I am almost kicking myself for not doing this sooner because I know that I was probably dehydrated in my previous runs. Live and learn I guess!

I felt really good today and I just felt really proud of how far I have come since I started running post-injury back in April. I rocked out to my Nirvana, Offspring, and Green Day tunes again.

Unfortunately at mile 4, my foot pod battery died on me and I had no way of measuring my pace or distance, so I had no idea how fast I was running. I found it quite hard to pace myself because I didn’t have any visual feedback!!! It is crazy how much I rely on my Polar RS200. I just tried to run as well as I could and not lag too much. Once I got home I had to go to Map My Route and map out how far my run was.

Around mile 10.50, I met the nicest old man who was on a walk. He told me he was 85 years old and walks everyday! He was so cute! He encouraged me and told me how great it was that I was running. Well, you should have seen the look on his face when I told him I was running 12 miles! haha. It was cute. He told me to watch out for traffic and we said goodbye and parted ways. It put such a big smile on my face for the next half mile. He probably has no idea that his kind words helped me finish my run today.

I definitely want to be that 85 year old person who is fit and active!!!! Anyone else? ;)

During my run, I stopped about 8 times to walk and rehydrate (for about 30-60 seconds each time. At mile 9 I had my Homemade energy gel and it gave me a nice boost of energy.

Here are the stats for my run:

• Distance: 12.40 miles (I went longer than I thought!)
• Duration: 2 hours 8 minutes 53 seconds
• Avg pace: 10:23 min/mile
• Max pace: 7:52 min/mile
• Max heart rate: 168 bpm
• Avg heart rate: 151 bpm

So because my distance was not tracked, I actually over compensated and ran over 12 miles which is fine by me!

I felt great on my run, just a bit stiff in the legs and shoulders by about mile 11 onward. Actually around mile 12, I got some chaffing along my chest from my heart rate monitor band. This has never happened in this spot before, so it is good that I found it out now. Before my half I am going to put some Body Glide in that area (I also have to put it in the centre of the band too.

I guess it is true what everyone says- it is good to do long runs before the race so you find out how your body will react! Luckily I had no strange blisters after today’s run.

I got home and did my traditional long run recovery routine.

If I thought I was excited for my half before, I am even more excited now! :) I have this crazy goal of coming in under 2 hours, but we’ll have to see. I think since I have been training on Murder Hill I may just surprise myself during the half. Time will tell!

See you later for new Glo bars and US shipping news! I will also be sharing a really inspiring story from a reader who began to run. :)

I’m off to work, work, work!