11 miles that kicked my A**!

This week's long run was a challenge. I was awaken at 4:30 AM by another round of frequent thunder and lightning. I determined right away that I will have to wait a couple of hours to head out to run. I then went back to sleep until 7 AM.

When I woke up, I got ready for my run. Before I left the house, I discovered that my run bottle had mold it that did not get clean properly. I was forced to not take it with me during my run. I was bummed about that. When I reached the lakefront, the start of my run was humid, but the temperatures was comfortable. I had a very nice breeze from the lake. I had excellent splits up until mile 8 and thought I would be able to finish my run stronger than last week. But the wheels completely came off and I struggled to finish my run. I had to walk portions of my run, which I do not do anymore. I also dealt with leg cramps during that portion of my run. When I finished my run, I walked off the leg cramps and continued to obtain fluids while walking. The intake of fluids did not help with cramps and I ended up walking into the ER where I used to work. I was given a bag of fluids to help me rehydrate, which helped a lot.

Now I am home relaxing and plan to take it easy tomorrow. I have a longer run schedule next weekend, which I plan to take some of the hydration lessons with hopes that the weather's more cooperating.

Mile 1 9:28
Mile 2 9:10
Mile 3 9:17
Mile 4 9:29
Mile 5 9:18
Mile 6 9:25
Mile 7 9:26
Mile 8 9:28
Mile 9 9:56
Mile 10 10:07
Mile 11 10:21

Avg Pace - 9:35/mi

Here comes the DOUBLE DIGITS!

Yes, it's that time in my half-marathon/marathon training - DOUBLE DIGITS! And I was ready to bring it on.

Well, the weather felt nice when I arrived to start my run. But I could still feel the humidity in the air. The run started out very nice. As I reached the turn around point, I started to feel like I was struggling. By the time I had two miles left, I felt like I was running with two lead legs. I still powered through it and finished.
Since I postpone this run until today, I will have a second double digit run scheduled for Saturday morning. I will have to adjust my training schedule this week to allow that. I am ready to try this again on Saturday.

Mile 1 9:35
Mile 2 9:34
Mile 3 9:29
Mile 4 9:58
Mile 5 9:51
Mile 6 10:04
Mile 7 10:01
Mile 8 9:54
Mile 9 9:48
Mile 10 9:43

Avg Pace - 9:48/mi