Whew! 19 more miles

Well, right after the Leavenworth Oktoberfest Half Marathon (I'm tired of writing all that), actually 22 hours after finishing it, I ran 19 miles.  I was nervous.  I did not think I would be able to finish.  Last week's failed 19 miles combined with the Leavenworth half and being soooo tired after that, made me feel like there was no way I'd be able to complete 19 miles.  But I remembered last week when I talked about my mindset, how I do better when I tell myself that I will complete XX miles, and not just say that I will do however I feel like, but "should" do XX miles.

Chris decided he was going to try to go to work for a couple hours Sunday morning, but he should be home by 9ish.  I thought 9 wasn't an awful time to go for a long run, and after my half on Saturday I talked Chris into going grocery shopping, so I didn't have to worry about that after a long run (thankfully).  So I got up about 6am, had a "normal" morning, coffee, food, water, bathroom.  I also got online and was reading my blog from 2 years ago.  I was trying to figure out where I ran the last time I ran 18-20 miles.  I remembered that during my 18 mile run I felt great, I finished fast (last mile was 8:47 min/mile).  Yes, I had bathroom issues afterwards, yes, I changed up my whole fueling technique after that, but my long runs after that long run, with the different fueling, were not nearly as good.  So I decided to assume that the bathroom issues were from dehydration, and not from too many honey stingers and Nuun, and do the 3 stingers every 2 miles starting at mile 5, with a sip of Nuun every mile. 

About 9am I got up off the couch where I had parked and got ready.  Chris got home about 9:30 and I left.  I left with the thought in my head that I was going to run 19 miles, and I didn't care about my pace.  I have been starting too fast, so I decided I needed to start slow.  Two years ago my long run goal pace was 10 min/miles, but Sunday I thought that if I was slower than that, oh well, I just needed the distance.  My goal time is not going to happen (even if I hope that some miracle will happen and I get faster in the next 3 weeks, it's really not going to happen). 

And it worked.  It wasn't the best long run I've done, but it absolutely wasn't the worst.  I would say it was a very successful long run.  I finished, I was tired, but after I was done stretching a little I thought, "I could have gone one more mile."  And that was a good thought.  I didn't feel guilty like I normally do when I have that thought because I didn't stop early, usually when I have that thought it's after I've stopped early.  This time I ran exactly what I was planning on running and finished with some energy left over, and that's good.

Nothing special about this photo, it's just the halfway mark.

When I started the run it was drizzling and cool.  I had bought a real waterproof jacket a few weeks ago (last year I looked and looked for one and ended up with a water resistant jacket, which is not the same and you get wet).   I put the waterproof jacket on, it's very lightweight, so I wasn't too worried about getting hot, but worried I'd regret it anyway.  For the first half of the run I was happy I had it, it was very wet out and I was thinking how nice the jacket was.  Well, shortly after the halfway point it started clearing up and I got warm.  I pushed the sleeves up past my elbows and figured it wasn't too bad, I've been warmer while running. 

And then I noticed that I had water running down my arm in a steady stream . . . yeah, waterproof jackets are waterproof both ways.  Not only do they keep water out, but they keep water (sweat) in, and pushing up my sleeves made the sweat pool just above my elbows and occasionally "leak" out.  Ewwwww!  ; )  So I took the jacket off (inside out) and tied it around my waist.  It didn't bother me nearly as much as I expected it to.

At just before 17 miles my phone died.  Thankfully I had looked at it about 2 miles before and noticed it was low on battery.  I was able to call Chris to give him an estimate of when I'd be at the park he was picking me up at.  My legs were pretty dead at this point, and when my phone died I slowed down a lot.  I had been averaging a 10:20ish min/mile, but the last two miles were closer to 12 min/miles.  He ended up having to wait for me for a little bit, but I'm okay with that.  ; ) 

I don't know what I'm going  to do about my phone battery.  I  really, really like having the record of my runs on mapmyrun, and I like having the map of the run to look back on.  I have referenced my long runs from 2 years ago many, many times this year and it's nice to be able to look at the maps and see exactly where I went.  But this phone doesn't have a battery I can take out, not like my phone from 2 years ago (I bought a second battery specifically for my marathon back then).  I have a portable phone charger, but it's heavy and very bulky and won't fit in my pouch with my phone.  I did just buy one for Damian that's much thinner, maybe he'll let me borrow it for my long run this weekend. . . and my marathon.

I did the 3 honey stingers every 2 miles starting at mile 5, and had 2 at mile 18 because I was tired.  I sipped Nuun every mile, and stopped at a coffee stand at mile 12.5 to refill my water bottle and put another half a Nuun in it (they are tablets that look like the original Airborne and dissolves in water).  I did not have the bathroom issues I did 2 years ago during my 18 mile run, I didn't have to stop and go NOW, nor did I spend 3 hours in the bathroom after the run.  I did have to go sit a little more often than usual the rest of the evening, but I got to enjoy my (first!) long run snack of a donut and mimosa and ate dinner that night.  So that is all very good. 

I think I will continue with this fueling technique, and maybe drink more water on Saturday.  I was harder to stay hydrated on Saturday with the long drive and the half marathon.  My legs were dead Sunday evening and really, really sore on Monday.  Tuesday they were better, and I ran 5 miles and Thursday they were just fine.  I think a lot of the soreness was the soft dirt from the half marathon more than the distance (although, I'm sure that played a part). 

This week is 21 or 22 miles (not sure how far) and then taper.  I feel like I've done all my training in a month, but I suppose I haven't really.  I did jump from 13 to 16 to 19 and now to 21 and my midweek runs have been practically non-existent.  No wonder I can't get faster.  ; )

Happy Birthday to me!  41 is a horrible number to see, but I don't feel 41 . . . but who really does?  I understand my mom so much more now than I ever have.