A Big Step towards St Louis

ORN: 18.3 miles, 2:58:04, 9:44/mile

The schedule called for 18 miles today. I haven't run this far in one time since 1981, at my last marathon. I had more than a bit of trepidation going into this...hey, it's new territory, right?

fortunately, I got a perfect day for the run. Blue sky from horizon to horizon (and here on the flatlands of northern Indiana, you can indeed see all the horizons :-) ), 55 degrees at 2pm when I headed out, a 10mph breeze out of the north. Shorts, gloves and a couple of layers of polyester was all I needed, along with my trusty Garmin Forerunner.

I set said Forerunner's training assistant to keep me under control. I am planning to run the Marathon at a 9:45/mile pace and am practicing keeping to that pace now. Overall, it went well, as I averaged 9:44. You can see from the splits below that there was some variation, but mostly within 15 seconds either way.

I was amazed at how good I felt the whole way. I had planted Gatorade at roughly two mile intervals on the route. I had a Gu at 5, 10 and 15 miles. Around mile 13, I felt a little wobbly for a half mile or so. But that resolved itself. At mile 15, I felt some sort of a twinge on the inside of my left shin. But that went away. My concern was for my right quad and/or my lower back. The quad murmured to me a couple of times but then settled down and was very fine for the last 8 miles or so. The back was OK...but I sure need to keep at the strengthening exercises I do each night. That helps. Gretchen and I are guessing a new mattress might be in order too...she's feeling some hip pains in the morning before and after her workouts. Maybe time to get rid of our hippie-dippie water bed???

So, as I cruised down my home street, I asked myself "Dude, can you do another 8?" I visualized what that would be from my house. Hmmmmm. It is clearly possible. More possible than it was to me three weeks ago. So, we stay the course.

Next week, 14 miles for the long run. Two weeks from now, the 20 miler. Then a taper into April 9 in downtown St Louis.

Persevere.




Splits:

9 19
9 42
9 53
9 49
9 51
9 22
9 58
9 29
9 41
9 56
10 00
9 51
9 34
9 44
9 29
10 01
9 44
9 41
2 50 (9 26 pace)