Watt's Running

Right now we are in taper. The marathon is next week, and my typical jitters are beginning. It is as if I hadn’t ever done a marathon before. Or that I’m worried about completing it. In any case we ran the first 7 miles of the marathon today for our long run. Although it was to be done slowly I just couldn’t. So I ran comfortably. I hope that I stayed at about MGP (marathon goal pace). However I think I ran faster than that. I finished in 1:18. This marathon is going to be a challenge with all the hills and pace changes. I need to create a custom pace band where each mile is a different pace depending upon the hills.

We ran the last 13.1 miles of the marathon course. We started at 7AM. I ran with John Z., Brenda, Joe, and Clarence. There are a few hills in the latter section, and the first five miles is a steady upward climb. So we tried to keep it to a slow pace, that is, less than MGP, and many times John, who was wearing a geek-o-meter, would say to slow down. Near the end Brenda, Joe and Clarence were a quarter mile ahead of John and I. I thanked John for being my running buddy for the day. It was nice to run with someone even though we didn’t talk that much. Just knowing he was there was good. We finished at 7th and Congress, then I cooled down back to the annex. It took me 2:16 to complete. John and the others went to breakfast, but I skipped it. At the annex I did my feet exercises, and then headed home by driving a few other runners to the start parking lot at Burnet and Northloop.

Well today was the longest run so far – 22 miles. I woke at 4:20 AM, and decided to get up instead of waiting for the alarm at 5 AM. I dressed, ate breakfast, and drove to the end (RunTex Riverside). Rushing around there I accidentally dropped my car key and had a hard time finding it in the dark. Luckily a young lady helped me and found it. At 5:30 AM I caught a ride with Larry and Dan to the start (RunTex Gateway). At 6 AM we started. It was drizzling and cold (39 degrees Fahrenheit). I wore tights, three upper layers, ear band and hat. For the most part I was warm running. In the end I ran it all, that is, no walking. However, it was ugly, and I ran anyway I could – you could say at the end that I shuffled. Regardless I just put one foot in front of the other, and I completed it in 3:58. Not very fast, but hey I ran it all and that made me feel good. Most years I don’t do as well. By the time I was done I was soaked through. My clothes probably weighed over a pound with the water weight. This time I tried to bring electrolytes. Having not bought any earlier in the week I tried REI the night before but they don’t carry any. So I brought about a teaspoon of salt in a baggie and one small bottle of Electromix. I was planning on only using the Electromix, but after the first use I forgot to close the squeeze cap and by the next stop it was empty. This wasn’t good. So I switched to Gatorade loaded with salt from my baggie. It tasted awful and it upset my stomach a bit. However at the end my legs weren’t cramping so I’ve got to continue to do something like that. I was to run MGP from 6-10 and 14-18, but only really tried from 6-10. The rest I just slogged along by myself in the drizzle and cold at whatever pace I could make myself do just to move along.