Long Runs 10/9 - 10/16

[limewave]

Chicago Marathon is next weekend! And I know a lot of you are doing the Nike Women's Marathon the same weekend in SF. I can't believe it's almost here

This morning I did a 12.5 miler. I wanted to only do 10, but I ran with a running club. It was great. I've been doing all of my training by myself and I had no idea what I was missing out on.

We ran a newly completed bike path that follows along the lakeshore. It was beautiful. I ran with four other guys, one of whom is also running the Chicago Marathon next week. He is a veteran marathoner and had lots of good info and tips for me. We got to chit-chatting and before I knew it, we had run out 6 miles!

We kept the pace down--I have no idea what it was since I didn't wear a watch, but we were able to keep good conversation so I couldn't have been working too hard.

It was 31 degrees when we started--sooooo cold. I hope it won't be that cold in Chicago. Anyways, it was great to have that last long run behind me. The rest of the week I get to take it easy.

Good luck everyone!

[Tri Girl]

Good luck to all running in marathons next weekend. I did Nike in San Fran last year and LOVED it! Would like to do Chicago sometime before I'm an old woman.
Again- good luck and have fun out there ladies!


p.s. Does a 5K count as a long run? I'm still in recovery mode from my IM, so 3 miles feels like a long run for my legs.

[btchance]

My longest run this week is 5miles slightly up tempo. No time for more since I have mini-boards next Friday.

To all that are competing next week - best of luck, I'm sure you'll do great!! and I want to hear about it.

And Tri Girl, a 5k can count for a long run. Heck, sometimes 1 mile feels like a long run

[kaybee]

Ran nine miles this morning, per the training schedule. After last week's 10, nine was piece of cake. Of course, the perfect weather and the Hammer Gel we consumed at mile five probably didn't hurt either! We're getting better at keeping a nice even pace, and are feeling confident that we can do this.

Hope everyone that's marathoning next weekend has great weather and that you all have a wonderful time.

KB

[Grog]

Wouuuuah! The child-like pleasure of splashing in the rain.

No long run this weekend, I still feel the weight of last week's fast (for me) 10K in my legs. Ran a painful 5k yesterday, was forced to walk a few times, felt miserable. I never really warmed up, despite being appropriately dressed for the weather.

Then I went out with a friend today for a "5pm 7km". I know she's a fast runner and it was our first time running together so I was a little wary but... it went well! I succeeded at maintaining conversation most of the time yet ran faster than many times recently the whole way.

It's good to have a running friend sometimes. I truly enjoy running by myself, in part because I take that time to listen to music that I seldom have a chance to listen to. But I might have never made it outside by myself today, since it was POURING rain. It has been raining since last night so there was a lot of water on the sidewalks and trails. My tights were really heavy with all that water in them, and I had to wring my hat when I came home. But it feels really good!

I'm thinking of all of you tapering girls this weekend. Enjoy the tingling in your legs and don't forget to carbo-load (lucky yous...)!!

[colby]

Today I did my half marathon, it was hilly! I had a hard time pacing, mostly because I was really trying not to push hard and mess up my training/self for the marathon, so the hills got me a little confused. In the end, my time was around 2:25, which is slower than I hoped for, but it was great hill training I felt awesome in the flats and had a LOT of energy at the end to sprint to the finish.

I decided (this is really kind of an obvious decision, but something I've taken for granted and need to say out loud) for my future events that I need to commit the time to drive/scope the course before I do it. I did a HM in May that I had biked 1-2 weeks before, and that really really helped. I knew about half of this course, but the parts I didn't were... hilly

[Tri Girl]

Congrats on your half Colby!!! When is your full?
Hills always kill me going up, but I love the downhill after (unless I'm running the Nike in San Fran and it was uphill all the way- seemed that way anyhow).

Again, great job! Your time is wonderful, and it's good to hear that you had some juice left in the tank at the end!

[colby]

Congrats on your half Colby!!! When is your full?
Hills always kill me going up, but I love the downhill after (unless I'm running the Nike in San Fran and it was uphill all the way- seemed that way anyhow).

Again, great job! Your time is wonderful, and it's good to hear that you had some juice left in the tank at the end!

Thanks, Tri Girl My full isn't until November 26th. Next weekend is another long 20+ miler, then a shorter week, then one more of those before I start tapering. Supposedly the marathon is pretty flat until the last 6 miles.

I noticed a lot of people struggled on the downhills. I smiled, remembering a recent discussion here about the very same issue. Fighting the hills seems like a total waste of energy. It had rained earlier, so I can see approaching some areas with caution, but most were pretty safe, and it's so hard on the knees to try to resist. My knees hurt as it is (muscles fine, knees complaining).

I definitely am going to add more hills into my biking and running for next year. I could really feel the difference between this HM and my last HM, so I know my strength has really improved over the summer. I did recover faster after the hills, as evil as they were

[Grog]

I noticed a lot of people struggled on the downhills. I smiled, remembering a recent discussion here about the very same issue. Fighting the hills seems like a total waste of energy. It had rained earlier, so I can see approaching some areas with caution, but most were pretty safe, and it's so hard on the knees to try to resist.

I was the one who raised the topic.

Since I've stopped doing serious hills because I had hurt my right quad. So I've only had one major downhill, on my race last weekend, and I've noticed that just by being more thoughful of letting myself glide down it was easier. I also know though that I can take too much speed and make myself even more tired going down the hill.

Reading your post made me think that the HM I'm signed up for in May (I love to sign up early!) had a major hill in it. It's between 6 and 10% on 800 km or so. I think I'll go run it a few times to see how I feel on it, and practice the downhill, because it's even longer (maybe 1.2km) and also steep. Thanks for the advice to go scope out the course!!