So this week, I finished the 12th week of my program. I was briefly home for Christmas, and the day after, during the morning, I was able to get one 3 mile run in, which included a hill. I'm originally from the Southen Illinois area (go Salukis!), which is hillier than my current area. So, I decided to give myself the challenge of running on hillier street, and did so with a running friend of mine. There is something to be said about running hills, and it's that they can be absolute freaking killer on the legs. Last year, I conquered that same street, which is has quite a few more hills, for 9 miles when it was cold, windy, and raining at times.
This time, it was 65 degrees with about 95% humidity (it had been raining off and on). 65 degrees now feels really hot for a run! Plus, with the humidity, I was dripping sweat in no time. Now, we only did the one hill, on the run. We hit the incline on the way up, and the decline on the way back. I had to push myself to stay relatively close behind to my friend, but managed to do so. My friend is a super speedy runner...runs something in the 8 minute range (or even faster), but she ran a bit slower so that I could keep up. So, I ate that hill for my running breakfast, and still managed to run 3.1 miles in under 30 minutes in 65 degree temperatures, plus nearly 100% humidity. I consider that run a win, as it was super nice to have something different for a change.
A few days later, I went and did my long run. That long run completely kicked my butt. I think it was partially due to me skating the day before. The other part was due to it being almost 40, but wind chills in the 20s, and me running in lots of head wind. I went to run with my Garmin on, but it somehow turned off, so I basically ended up putting it into my pocket and going by feel instead. I have no idea what my pace actually was, but I felt like I was running like a turtle trudging through mud....or maybe a turtle that was facing lots of head wind..I don't know. I also lost track on which mile I was on, so I ran a bit extra, in hopes that I got in the right mileage (found out later that I did...got in 6.4 actually).
For this run, I decided to run a bit further on the actual marathon route. The area I ran in is the miles that are in the 17-20 area. I had been on the course to what is considered the mile 19 mark, but never further. So, on this run, I decided to include the the mile 19-20 area, so that I can become more familiar with it. In a lot of ways, this is really good practice, not just to get to know my surroundings, but to help me push through those mental walls. On this run, it was that new mile route. That felt like the longest mile ever. I don't know what it was about it, but I really had to mentally push through that one mile, and my legs were just not really having it (I did allow a few short walk breaks at what would be aid station areas). However, once I turned around to head on back, that mile felt MUCH shorter. Maybe it's the thought of being at the turn around point...not just on my particular run, but also for the marathon in general. In the actuall marathon, I would basically head about a mile further south, then work my way back up..sorta making a loop, then head back towards the stadium. I can already tell that area is going to be a BIG mind game for me. It's going to take a lot of training to push through that part of the race. However, with continuing of long runs, I hope to complete all of those remaining miles on the marathon course, so that I will be better prepared mentally and physically for the race itself.
Yesterday, I took the day off from running (skated instead), and finished my week today with a 3 mile run. Today, I was suppose to do a local 5k, which I was going use as a race/training run, but, as it turned out, I registered for a race in a DIFFERENT STATE that was under the same name.......yeeeeahh......only someone like me would be dumb enough to do that. So...yeah...no in town 5k race for me. So, I ran my own 3 miles today. I must've been taking out my stupidity of registering for the wrong race, as I actually ended up with these results:
I did have a few stops because of traffic, and had to make one quick stop to drop off my rent check, but this is my personal best 3 mile time! It completely kicked my butt, as I did this, just sort of thinking, "How fast can I go?" So, I pushed myself to do it. Had I ran this in a 5k, this would have been a new racing PR for me (28:27 is my racing record). Despite how tired I was, I am pretty darn happy with that time, as that is a new personal speed record for me. I will take this as a very positive ending for my running year!
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